Anything To Be With You
by ZenBabe
Summary: COMPLETED! Jake is the new guy at Tree Hill High. Everyone starts out single. Mostly Jeyton, a little Brucas and Naley too. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**ANYTHING TO BE WITH YOU **

**Chapter 1  
**

Peyton woke up on Monday morning, bright and early, to the incessant sound of her alarm clock. She rolled over so that she was lying flat on her stomach and pulled a pillow over her head, pulling at the sides to make them cover her ears. She hated the idea of going back to school after a nice, long summer vacation. She absolutely loved spending those three months away from all the drama and just sit in her room or on the beach just to relax and draw. Now, it was back to the studying, back to cheerleading, and back to boy-drama! It was now 7 o'clock and she thought that she should really start getting ready.

A shower, black coffee, quick morning-sketch, and a spritz of hair spray on her gorgeous blonde locks and she was ready to go! She grabbed her messanger bag and swung it over her shoulder. She walked out of her house and into her convertible. She looked at her watch: 8 o'clock. OK, she thought, only 7 hours! She sighed and put her key in the ignition.

"JAKE!" I really need to get an alarm clock, thought Jake as he woke up to his mother screaming his name. Ah, and so begins the morning ritual. Jake had gone to a strict private religious school for his two first years of high school. Uniforms, hours of homework and sufforing, no parties, all rules! He hated that school and was so glad to be out of it! His sophomore year he had become somewhat unique to the other kids at his school. Don't get me wrong, he was a great student with a wonderfull attitude and personality, not to mention his talent when it came to both basketball and singing/songwriting/guitar-playing. But he was so sick of all the restrictions! He was allways obedient at school and all but when he was free, on his weekends, he would try to just let loose and have fun. Which basicaly meant, parties parties parties. Since he isn't so bad looking, it wasn't hard for him to get into some of the good parties.

That was where he met Nicky. He liked how with her, he could just let go and have fun! They dated for a while and well, let's just say that now he has a 6 months old daughter, got kicked out of his old school, and well, Nicky isn't in the picture anymore.

All this thinking about Nicky got him a little depressed. It had been 6 months since she left him, but he still didn't think he was completely over her. He didn't regret anything he did with her. He had her to thank for his beautiful baby girl, Jenny. But man, that Nicky really knew how to break a guy's heart.

"I'm up Mom!" Yelled Jake from his bedroom. He pulled off his covers. He realized how he just wanted to get up and go to school wearing just his boxers and wife-beater. Partly because it was so freaking hot, and partly because he wanted it to be the opposite of those aweful uniforms he had had to wear for so long! However, he decided that that wouldn't exactly get him the reputation he wanted at Tree Hill High, so he pulled on some jeans and layered a T-Shirt over a long sleeve shirt.

"Peyton!" Peyton could recognize that voice from miles away. It was her best friend, Brooke. Peyton turned around to find her thoughts confirmed and she hugged her best friend. "I haven't seen you in so long!" Brooke said as they pulled apart.

"Brooke, you saw me two days ago at Matt Fahey's party!" Peyton said with a grin.

"Well, whatever, it sounded like the right thing to say on the first day of school! Anyway... Have you seen Lucas?" Brooke asked, as if it were just any ordinary question.

"Brooke, the whole entire summer has passed and you are still after Lucas?" Peyton asked, surprised that Brooke kept a crush for such a long time, especialy since Lucas hadn't come to any of the parties over the summer and Brooke had hooked up with a couple guys who did. Even though Lucas wasn't quite the social star, he still kept up a good reputation, probably thanks to his good looks. But everyone knew that he was a really good guy with a big heart, even Brooke.

"I was just asking..." Brooke said, trying to brush it off. Right then the bell rang and Brooke sighed. "Do we really have to go to History class? I mean, we have a whole year of learning ahead of us, it won't do any harm to just miss the first class, will it?" She pleaded with Peyton.

"You know, I think Lucas is in our History class." Peyton stated, not knowing at all if what she was saying was actualy true. Brooke's eyes lit up.

"Oh!" she said "I guess I could go then." The two best friends linked arms and laughed on their way to the History room.

They opened the door to the room and found that everyone was already there. Brooke was happy to see that one of the two seats left available was next to Lucas, who infact was in that class. Brooke ran off to sit down there, and turned to Lucas.

"Hey there Broody. Have a nice vaca?" She flashed her adorable dimples at him and he blushed a little. Peyton rolled her eyes and giggled a little at her best friend's charm on the guys. She looked around and saw that the only other seat available was in the back. Yes! She thought, now when Mr. Turner's class gets to boring, I can just sketch. Then, she saw the hottie that was sitting next to the empty chair, she didn't recognise him. Maybe he used to be a geek but got hot over summer, she thought, or maybe he's new. Let's go find out, she said to herself as she took the seat next to him.

"Hi, I'm Peyton." She said trying her best to sound casual. She stuck out her hand for him to shake. He gladly took it and smiled warmly.

"Jake." He said, keeping her hand in his for a second longer than she had planned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A couple days had passed and not much had changed. Jake and Peyton would only exchange a couple polite words when they saw each other first period but other then that they hadn't gotten any further. Peyton really wanted to get to know this guy. There was something about him that set him apart from the rest of the guys. He seemed humble. She liked how he smiled at her every time she sat down next to him and how he would glance over casually to look at what Peyton was sketching, thinking that she didn't notice, then jerk his head away to focus on the teacher when Peyton would look up at him. Of course, she always noticed him, and he knew that she did. It was a whole wordless flirting routine they had going. But whenever Peyton got up the courage to talk to him, she had no idea what to say. She wasn't used to this feeling. Hell, her and Nathan were practically opposites and she could even talk to him when they were together. But with Jake, she didn't even know a thing about him. When she asked him about his past and where he came from he was always really vague. She always thought that he must hate her and want her to stop talking to him... Until he did that cute little smile of his and Peyton could tell that he was honestly interested in being her friend. Were they even friends? She didn't even know. They were more like... acquaintances. She hoped that that would change soon... She didn't need him to be her boyfriend. But at least friends, she just wanted him to let his guard down, and that was normally her problem.

Jake was a mess. He tried to do his Trig homework but found no point in trying to concentrate on it. Besides, he had covered that material last year at his old school. He tried to put his books back in his bag but they would not go in. He pushed harder and his books still just would not go in. He slammed the books down next to him just to see that his back pack in fact, wasn't unzipped. Jake sighed. Why was he so unconcentrated? Something was taking up all the space in his mind, he couldn't even think of how to open his own back pack. What was it? Peyton, he thought. He used to be smooth when it came to girls, but this one was different. She wasn't like Nicky, and Jake was thankful for that, but she was just so hard to read. For all he knew, she might not even remember his name. He wouldn't blame her; he had said maybe three words to her since the first day of school.

He felt like he could understand her if she opened up to him. Like once, when he looked over to his left to see what she was sketching that day, he saw an illustration of a traffic light. The top read: "People Always Leave". When he read that, he immediately thought of Nicky. Maybe Peyton had gone through or was going through something close to what he had gone through. Probably minus the Jenny part, thought Jake.

He was woken from his thoughts by Jenny crying. He glanced at his watch, which read: 4:10 pm. It was Tuesday and he needed to be at school in 20 minutes for his first basketball practice. He hurried to feed Jenny and to calm her a little. His mom came home when he only had about 5 minutes left. There was no way he could get to school that fast. Great! Jake thought, way to start off the season! He ran out of the door only to find that he had forgotten his gym bag. He fumbled through his pocket for his key and ran back in his house, to his room, grabbed his bag and left again. What on earth was going on with him today?

Jake rushed through the gym doors to find two dozen guys already in there, doing lay-ups. He silently cursed and walked up to Coach Duhram.

"Hi Coach Duhram, I'm sorry I'm late." Jake said, out of breath from all the running he did to get in there.

"Look, Jegelski, I don't know how the hell they did it in wherever you came from, but here at Tree Hill High, we like our players to be on time!" he said in his Texas accent. He was basically scolding Jake, but Jake could still tell that he was going to be a nice guy, with a big influence on his life.

"I know, I know. It's just I'm kind of having problems at home…" Jake tried to reason.

"Well unless your house burnt down, I don't see why I should cut you anymore slack than the rest of your teammates who, by the way, seemed to get here on time." Coach Duhram stated.

"Coach, look, I'm a single father. My daughter, Jenny, she's only 6 months old and my parents weren't home today to take care of her. Please, just give me another shot. I will try harder not to be late, but you know how babies are. They are unpredictable. But Coach, I'm just trying to make my way through high school, and well, it's not that easy being a single father and doing that. I really love basketball. Please, can you just help me out?" Jake pleaded. He hadn't planned on telling anyone about Jenny but he needed to in this case. Anyway, it's not like he would tell anyone. From the look in Coach Duhram's eyes (a mix of shock and pity), Jake could tell that he would help in out.

"OK, Jegelski, no more staling though! Go get changed and get out here and join your team."

"Thank you Coach Duhram. You won't regret it!" Jake said, ecstatic.

"Oh please boy, call me Whitey." Whitey smiled and Jake nodded and jogged off to the boy's locker room to change.

Soon after Jake left to get changed, Peyton came rushing into the gym. She didn't need to deal with Whitey yelling at her because she knew that he couldn't care less about the cheerleaders. It was Brooke she had to deal with. She walked over the where the girls were stretching. Brooke got up with a frown.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry" Peyton blurted out before Brooke could scold her. "My car ran out of gas half-way here and I had to run the rest of the way." Peyton finished.

"OK, I forgive you!" Said Brooke, in a cheery voice. "But only 'cuz you're my best friend, and I need to ask for a favor." Brooke said.

"Alright, shoot." Said Peyton, thinking that Brooke just needed a shopping partner or something like that.

"I need you to be Luke's partner for out History project." Brooke said, with a pleading look in her eyes.

"You need me to what? Brooke, what? Aren't you the one that likes him? Can't you be his partner?" Peyton asked, really confused.

"No, Peyton come on! I really like Lucas and I think that I might have a shot with him. But first, I need you to talk to him about it. You know, investigate a little." Just then Jake came out of the locker room and into the gym. He saw Peyton and waved. She waved back and smiled, getting an idea.

"Tell you what Brooke: I'll ask Lucas to be my partner for the project if you be with Jake." Peyton stated.

"What? Why would I be partners with… Oh My Gosh! You like Jake! You are falling for the new guy!" Brooke said a little too loud. Thankfully for Peyton, Jake didn't seem to hear.

"Shhhh…" Peyton shushed Brooke. "I dunno, I just feel comfortable around him. I don't know if I like him, I'm just… interested. And if I'm gonna investigate on Luc then you hafta at least try to do the same for me!" Brooke's face lit up.

"Yes! Oooh! It's so on! You and Jake, me and Lucas, Nathan and Haley! This is sooo awesome!" Brooke said jumping up and down with excitement.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a sec. Nathan and Haley? Since when is there a Nathan and Haley?" Peyton said shocked. She knew that they had spent a lot of time together lately, but she had no idea that it was anything other than tutoring. How could she miss something like this?

"Oh my gosh, Peyton! Where have you been? You have been so spaced out this week, you didn't even notice Tree Hill's 'It Couple'! OK, we need to have some serious gossip time. Luckily, I have been hanging out with Haley a lot lately; I have all the great details on how they hooked-up!" Brooke said, even more excited now. Peyton was still shocked. She must have been really absorbed in the whole Jake thing this week to not have noticed that two of her best friends got together! Wow, Nathan and Haley… Peyton never noticed it before, but now that she thought about it, Haley was perfect for Nathan. Back when Peyton was with Nathan they had gotten into countless fights but she never was able to change his stubborn ways, but once Haley came into his life, even if it was just for tutoring, she had seemed to have become a better guy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Peyton and Luke had already met a couple of times to "work on their project", in other words talk about Brooke as they made no effort into their PowerPoint presentation on World War I. Luke had opened up to Peyton and it was easy to see that he was as crazy about Brooke as Brooke was about him. Peyton was happy to hook them up and now they are a happy couple; holding hands and kissing every chance they got. They couldn't be happier.

Brooke however, was having some trouble getting Jake to open up. She had gone over to the library to pick up a couple books on their topic, the French Revolution. She drove over to Jake's house in her silver convertible bug, and found him on the front steps playing his guitar.

"Hey Jake." Brooke said as she got out of her car and held the books in her arms. "I thought we could maybe work a little on our project." She had no intetion of talking about History with Jake however. Her intentions were clearly to get him to confess about his feelings for Peyton, if he had any, which Brooke thought, he definitaly did.

"Oh, well..." Jake glanced back at his house, which seemed to be empty. "Now's, uh... now's not really a good time, Brooke." He said, trying to sound casual. Jenny was at home, sleeping, and he didn't want Brooke to find out about her.

"Yeah, I can tell you're really busy." Brooke stated, sarcasticly.

"Brooke, please, can we just do this another time. I promise, we will get this project done eventualy." Oh please, Brooke thought, as if she cared about the project. But her and Lucas were already together and she owed it to Peyton to at least try to get Jake to talk.

"Jake Jegelski! I just busted my $$ off getting all these books from the library. I am Brooke Davis! I don't normaly go near a library but now it's time for you to work a little too. You do not say no to me, mister! You can play your little songs later, Okay? It's not like your really busy? Unless there is something you're not telling me. Man, you need to decide who you are. Half the time you're Mr. Nice guy, the other half you're Mr. Mystery. Just choose one already! But we really need to work, so you are gonna let me in!" Brooke yelled. She wasn't actualy mad and she thought it was kind of snoty of her to play the popularity card on him, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And she was going to talk to Jake if it was the last thing she did! She gave off the appearance of being sweet and fragile, but she liked acting tough from time to time because it always had a great impact on the person's reaction. Jake was no different. He was shocked out of his skull! He didn't even say anything. "Come on, Jake," Brooke softened up a little and pouted, "please."

Jake sighed and muttered, "Come on in, Brooke." He settled down his guitar on a chair on his porch and opened the door. Brooke followed him into the living room where she saw a baby crib. Wow, his parents must have had Jake when they were really young if their still reproducing, thought Brooke. But she welcomed the thought of Jake having a baby sibling, because she loved babies.

"Aw, Jake! You didn't tell me you had a baby sister!" Brooke squealed, guessing the sex of the baby by all the pink that surrounded her in the crib. The baby was sound asleep and the cutest baby Brooke had ever seen. "What's her name?" she asked.

"Jenny," Jake said, he sounded a little nervous, "and, uh, she's not my sister." Jake stated, slowly. He glanced at Brooke's face, hoping that he didn't need to go any further and that she would get it.

"Wait... Are you saying she's...? Is she?" Brooke couldn't even say it. She was too shocked.

"Yeah, she's all mine." Jake said. He thought he would be scared to admit it, but it actualy felt really good to finaly tell someone. He started to rethink his idea about keeping Jenny a secret. Jenny was his beautiful baby girl, and she was nothing to hide.

"Wow, Jake. That is incredible. But how...?" She didn't feel she needed to finish. She felt a little weird prying into Jake's life, they weren't even really that great of friends, but she needed to know.

"Um, well, it's kind of a long story. Let's just say, it's just me and Jenny now." Brooke nodded.

"She's beautiful." Brooke said. She was starting to forget about why she even came there.

"Yeah, isn't she?" Jake chuckled a little as he admired for the ten-thousandth time, how adorable his daughter really was. "You're not going to tell Peyton, are you?" Jake asked, really worried. He wasn't doing too well with Peyton, and he thought that if she knew about this she would for sure never consider him for being... well anything at all.

"No." Brooke stated, getting an idea. "But you are." Jake looked at her confused. "Jake, I'm not going to lie to you. She likes you. Or, I mean, she's interested. This'll interest her even more, trust me. But if you want to have a shot with her, then you have to be honest about this before you make your move. If you want a good relationship with Peyton, then you can't hide Jenny from her, and you know it." Brooke wasn't scolding him. She said all this with an honest, peaceful look in her eyes. And Jake knew that she was right. Heck, he was tired of hiding Jenny. It would be a relief to show her off to his new friends. He knew that the true ones would stick by him. He also knew that he needed to tell Peyton fast. He could tell that the occasional smile he gave her was definitaly not enough to keep her interested in him. Jake made a check-list in his mind: 1) Tell Peyton about Jenny, 2) Tell Peyton how you feel about you, 3) Take really really cold shower. He decided, after Brooke had left, to go with number 3 first, he really needed it now.

Jake was trying to think up a plan. How to tell Peyton, when, where, etc... He didn't notice that he was just letting the days past and soon it was already Octobre and he had no idea what to do about Peyton. He couldn't just go up to her and tell her, could he? He was woken from his thoughts at the sound of Jenny's cries. It was early morning on a Saturday, and he was still in bed. He climed out and walked over to his daughter's crib.

Once Jenny was calmed, and asleep, he picked up his guitar and started to walk outside. When he saw that it was pooring rain he stoped dead in his tracks. It wasn't that long ago that it was summer, and all of a sudden it's raining like there's no tomorrow! He sat down, no longer in the mood to play his guitar. He heard the incecent tapping sound the rain made when it his his roof. For some reason it really annoyed him, he wanted to just tear the roof down and let him get soaked. What did he care? It'd actualy be refreshing, Jake thought. He had had enough of all this stalling around. He searched his room for the school directory and found it under his bed. He flipped it over to the 'S' section and saw that the first name there listed was infact, Peyton Sawyer. Even though that was the name he was looking for, it still made his heart jump when he saw it. He took several deap breaths, glanced over at Jenny, still asleep, and dialed the number quickly while he still had the nerve.

"Hello?" Peyton answered, after a couple rings. Jake could hear Rooney playing in the background.

"Uh, ya, Peyton, hi." Jake stumbled with his words. Great job, he thought to himself.

"Who is this?" Peyton asked. Jake felt like an idiot. Of course she isn't gonna recognise your voice!

"Oh, oh right. This is Jake. I'm, uh, in your History class. I sit-" He was interupted by Peyton's words.

"Next to me. Yeah, I know who you are. What's up, Jake?" Peyton was surprised to hear that it was Jake who called her. What did he have to say to her? He had been ignoring her pretty much for weeks. She just figured that Brooke had told him that she had feelings for him but that he didn't feel the same way. But now with him calling... Snap out of it Peyton! she thought, he could just want to know the homework or something!

"Um, well," Jake said, wondering if he had the nerve. He just decided to go for it, "It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Can, um, do you think you could come over?" Jake said, hoping the answer was yes. Peyton agreed, directions were given and Peyton was now, already on her way there.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hey guys, just want to say thanks to Cindy for replying!

**Chapter 4**

Peyton knocked on Jake's front door, wondering what on earth could be so important that she had to drive over there to hear. She wasn't complaining though. The fact that Jake had called her just to tell her something important and to ask her to come over was still making her smile from ear to ear. She hoped that Jake would open the door soon, it was pouring rain and Peyton didn't want her hair to frizz.

Jake opened the door soon after, looking somewhat nervous. He couldn't help but notice how hot Peyton looked in the rain.

"Peyton, hi," he said, "Come in." Peyton stepped inside the house and Jake closed the door behind her. They walked into the living room and Peyton was immediately taken by the pink baby crib in the corner. She, of course, walked over right away to find a beautiful baby girl asleep. She looked back at Jake who looked very uneasy.

"Jake," she started, "I didn't know you had a si-"Peyton couldn't continue. Jake interrupted her, thinking it was best just to say it all at once.

"She's not my sister, Peyton, she's my daughter." His voice got a little lower as he said that last word, but Peyton still heard him loud and clear. She was so shocked she couldn't move for a little while. She turned back to look at the little girl, then looked back at Jake. 

"Is this what you had to tell me?" That was all Peyton could say. She was at a lose of words.

"Yeah, um, if it's too weird for you to be here right now, I understand. I just wanted you to know, because... well, just because." He said nervously.

"Jake, don't be ridiculous. She's beautiful, and I admire that you have been able to be a high school junior and a single father at the same time." The words had escaped her mouth before she even realized what she was saying, "Wait, are you...? Single?" She asked, a little worried. For all she knew, the guy she was crushing on could have two more kids and a wife.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm single." He reassured her. Peyton took a couple steps closer to him. They were about a foot apart.

"Look Jake, I don't know if I'm out of line here, or just imagining things, but... I like you. And from what happened today, from you calling me and me coming over and you telling me all this, I'm guessing that you like me too." Jake was shocked at how much guts Peyton had. Not many people could go up to someone and tell them that they like them. He imagined being in a relationship with Peyton. But in his dreams, one thing was missing. Jenny. He couldn't be like other guys his age. He had a daughter to take care of and he couldn't keep Peyton tied down like that.

"You know, Peyton. I think that... maybe... maybe we should just be friends." He said, and it was the hardest thing he had ever had to say. Being just friends with Peyton was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew -or at least thought- that it was the right thing to do. If anything could come in the middle of a relationship, that thing was a child. He couldn't juggle a baby and a girlfriend, especially one as special as Peyton. She deserved better than to be put second in his life, and right now, he had no choice but to put Jenny first. She was his responsibility and he couldn't burden Peyton with a responsibility like that. 

Peyton was about to say something, she looked a little hurt by his words and confused, but just then someone came through the front door.

"Jake?" Jake's mom called out, coming home from work. She walked into the living room to find her son talking to a girl that, she thought, must go to Tree Hill High. She was happy to see that Jake was making some friends. "Oh, "she said, "I didn't know you had company. I'm Margaret." She held out her hand for Peyton to shake. Peyton took it and tried to fake a smile for her.

"Actually," Peyton started, "I was just leaving. I'll see you around." Before Jake or his mom could say anything, she got up, grabbed her jacket, and was out the door. It was raining even harder now, which she was actually thankful for. Because in the rain, no one could see her tears, which by now were streaming down her face. She tilted her head back so that she could just stand there and feel the drops fall hard on her face. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Everything was going wrong. She knew that she should have just kept her mouth shut! How stupid was she to think that he actually liked her? He didn't really give and hint of it! She should have known... Plus even if he did like her, she wasn't saying that he did, but IF he did, then it would just be too hard, too complicated, what with Jenny and all, right? Would it be, or was that just an excuse? Peyton just had a crush on the guy. She could get over it. Why was she so upset about it? She had said the same thing to numerous guys that were interested in her, it wasn't a big deal! Then, why was she hurting so much?

She had had enough of thinking. She realized that she was still infront of Jake's house and she did the first thing she could think of doing. She ran. She just ran in the rain as fast as she could and only concentrated on her speed, she didn't feel like thinking about Jake or Jenny, or the fact that she could actually imagine herself having a future with both of those people! She had ran a couple of blocks when she heard footsteps fast behind her. She knew who it was without turning back.

Jake was running fast, faster than he ever thought he could. He silently thanked whatever God there is to have given him the ability to run fast. He soon was right behind Peyton. When she heard him behind her she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Jake, what do you want?" She asked not turning around, she couldn't face him. She only now realized that she was completely drenched, from her hair to her clothes.Thankfuly, her shirt was black and not white.

"You left your car infront of our house." Jake said. Of course that was not what he was doing there, but he wasn't so good with words. He didn't quite know what was the right or wrong thing to say. When Peyton turned around, looking a little angry but mostly just sad, he knew that it had been the wrong thing to say.

"I left my car infront of your house?" Peyton repeated his words. "That's why you followed me in the pouring rain for blocks. Just to tell me that I left my car at your house?" The rain blended with her tears, but Jake could tell that she had been crying. He felt like such an idiot for making the only person he had ever felt this way about cry. Jake sighed. For once in his life he deserved a big fat slap in the face, and if he didn't say what was really on his mind fast he was probably going to get one, he thought.

"No, Peyton. I... I followed you 'cuz..." Jake took a deep breath, "'Cuz I lied." He took a couple steps closer to her, and gazed deep into her eyes. She looked confused, so he continued. "I don't just wanna be your friend." Peyton still looked not so happy. Not mad, but not exactly happy either.

"Then what was all that about back at your house, Jake?" She said, getting frustrated. Jake was just so hard to read! She could never tell what he was thinking or what he was meaning when he talked about his feelings.

"I just thought that with Jenny and all... Just that things would get too..." Jake couldn't get the words right. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really understand what his logic was back at his house when he said they should just be friends.

"Complicated." Peyton finished for him.

"Yeah. And I don't know if you know, but if we get into a relationship then you will be burdened with so much responsibility what with Jenny and all, and I can't ask you to compromise your whole life just to be with me." Jake said, trying to make sense.

"You never asked me to! I volunteered! Jake, it's nice of you to be concerned about me, but don't you think it's up to me to decide if I want the responsibility to be in a relationship with you and with Jenny? I want this. I know that it'll be different from the other guys I've been out with, but that's what I like about you. I fell for you for who you are, you having a daughter doesn't change the way I feel about you. And I understand that you might need more space or time or anything because of Jenny, but I just want to be with you! I don't care if I need to be responsible or compromise my whole life! I just want to be with you!" Peyton looked at the man she had just poured her heart out too. He looked like he wanted her as much as she wanted him, but she could never he sure. She really wanted to kiss him, he looked so good in the rain, and he had a look in his eyes... wanting maybe? Peyton sure hoped it was, but just to make sure, she said: "So... you've heard me side... What's going on in your head, Jake?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Peyton, you have no idea how happy you just made me. And you have no idea how much I want you. God, I don't care if I have to scream it at the top of my lungs, or if I have to compete with all those other guys at school, or if I have to spend the rest of my life trying to convince you that I want you so bad, because I am willing to try anything... ANYTHING to be with you." He stated, with full confidence. He tried to spill his heart out and put it into words and even if it didn't make her as happy as her words did to him, he was happy that he had finally gotten it off his chest.

Oh wow, Peyton thought. She couldn't remember a time in her life that was more romantic. She felt like her heart was soaring all around inside her chest. She felt like it was all a dream that she was dreading waking up from. But when she reached up to kiss him, she knew that it wasn't a dream, it was for real, and she couldn't have been more happy about it. Jake kissed her back so hard she felt like she was going to fall over backwards, but his arms were wrapped firmly around her waist, which stopped her from falling. She snaked her arms around his neck and they continued to kiss, neither one ever wanted to let go.

"Nathan we need to study," Haley said between kisses, trying to be serious. But the role of strict tutor never seemed to fit her, especially when the person she was tutoring was her gorgeous new boyfriend. He kissed her more deeply, letting his tongue slip into her mouth. Of course, she shut up and kissed him back, how could she not? But to her dismay, it was ended before she knew if when Nathan pulled back. 

"Ok, so let's study!" He said. She knew that he was teasing her. It was always like this. Their tutoring sessions consisted of making out, then Haley wanting to study, then him leaving her wanted to make out again. He sure knew how to keep her wanting more. She laughed at herself for thinking that she could pull herself together. Ever since her and Nathan had gotten together, she wasn't able to think completely straight. She had had a couple little crushes before, but this was different. She loved the fact that, he could have anyone he wanted, yet for some reason he wanted her.

Nathan's head was still spinning from the effects of the mind-blowing kisses him and Haley shared. He was completely head over heals. With all the other girls he had dated, he never got butterflies in his stomach like he did with Haley. But most of all, he loved that Haley, someone so determined and ambition, saw something in him, someone so disfunctional and confused. Especially now in his life, everything going on with his Dad and Mom, Haley was the only thing he had, besides basketball. And man, did she know how to make things better. Not just by making out, even though that was great, but by just being near him. He knew it sounded stupid, but it was something about her presence that made him feel... safe, was it? He didn't know, but it felt so right, he didn't want it to ever go away.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey guys. I want to thank jenny blue eyes for replying! Your review made my day, it was so nice! **

**Chapter 5**

Haley and Nathan had finished studying and surprisingly, they had gotten a fair amount of work done.

"OK, so we went through two chapters of the history book and I know all there is to know about the French Revolution, and I still have…" He glanced at the clock that read 9:16 pm. "forty-four minutes 'till I need to go home." He said, looking at Haley.

"What will we do with all this time?" Haley said, pretending to think. "You know, you could get ahead in your work. We could go over chapt…" Haley said but stopped because Nathan's face was already buried in her neck. She loved how good he made her feel. He gave her so much attention and affection, that she didn't feel that she was even good enough for him sometimes. The weird thing was, Nathan sometimes seemed to think that he was the one that wasn't good enough for her.

FLASHBACK

"So, here we are." Nathan said as him and Haley sat down in her room for a tutoring session. "So, a month ago, did you ever think that we'd be alone in your bedroom?" Nathan said. He knew he was pushing her buttons, but he wanted to see what she would say. He had been developing… feelings lately. Feelings for... well, Haley. And it scared him because, sure, he had had feelings for girls before, but this was different. It wasn't that he just thought she was hot. He did think that but there was way more. She had gone from his brother's best friend, to his tutor, to his friend, and now his crush. It felt childish to call her that, but it was true. He was crushing hard for this girl. Just the way he could tell her things, stuff going on at home with his parents, stuff with basketball. And the things that she told him, he actually listened, and was actually interested. He had people, his friends, coming up and telling him that he has become a much better guy now. And he thought he owed it all the Haley.  
"Oh, but we're not alone. We have the four-fathers with us." Haley joked. Truthfully when he had said those words she didn't take it as much of a joke. The fact that he had stated the fact that they were alone in her bedroom, sort of made her heart skip a beat. She knew that he was Nathan Scott, famous flirt, and that he said those kind of things all the time, and she felt foolish for being one of the many girls that was actually interested in him. Yet, she didn't feel so foolish, because she could tell that Nathan opened up to her way more than he did to other girls.

"They can watch." He smirked. He liked teasing her, he could tell that she was embarrassed.

Haley giggled, she couldn't think of anything to say fast enough.

"No, seriously though. Can we just blow-off studying today?" Nathan pleaded.

"Nathan, you have a quiz on Monday!" Haley tried to reason with him.

"So? It's English, it doesn't matter, I won't ever need it in life. Come on. We never do anything just fun together. We could see a movie, or I could teach you how to play basketball or something. What'd you say?"

"Fine!" Haley sighed, "But I am broke right now so let's go down to the River Court and you can teach me some moves." She said as she put on her jacket. She knew this was not a date. Nathan was probably just hanging out with her because he was already with her and it would be rude to just blow her off.

Haley was so happy, though. All this time studying and getting closer with each other, they had never actually hung out. Things were all escalating the way she wanted them too. And she didn't know this yet, but her relationship with Nathan was about to take a big step forward.

END OF FLASHBACK

Peyton and Jake were at the local movie theaters for their first official date. It was still the same day of their first kiss. They had both been able to take half an hour apart to go home and change clothes then meet up later to see a movie. They had decided to see Coach Carter, basketball action for Jake, and hot guys for Peyton. Although she didn't say it out loud to Jake, that was the only reason she agreed to seeing it.

They walked up the stairs in the theater and went all the way to the back row. When they sat down, Jake put his arm around Peyton. She tried to lean into him but the arm rest was kind of pocking into her side. 

"Ow," She said and Jake immediately looked at her to see what was wrong, "Umm, it's the armrest." Peyton said, a little embarrassed at the couple of people that were now turned around to watch her and Jake battle with the armrest.

"Uh, I think it goes up, right?" Jake asked.

"Ya, um, hold on." She said as she pushed the armrest up, but it wouldn't budge. She was starting to blush now. All of a sudden the armrest sprung up and hit Jake in the face. Peyton could take it anymore, she just started laughing uncontrollably.

"Ow!" Jake said, as he rubbed his face."

"Oh, Jake! I'm so sorry, are you OK?" Peyton could barely get the words out, she was laughing so hard. A woman infront of them shushed them. Peyton thought that was a little out of line, considering the movie hadn't even started yet. But she just ignored her and kept laughing, eventually Jake joined her, the humor of the previous events finally catching on to him.

When they were finally calmed down, Peyton leaned back into him and he re-put his arm around her. She whispered apologies again and kissed his cheek, where the armrest had hit him. "Come here." Jake mumbled, making sure only she could hear him. And the space between their lips was gone. She let him slip his tongue into her mouth and they stayed making out while the preview's ran and during the parts that they found boring in the movie.  
Something on the screen caught Peyton's eye, and no, it was not all the guys' six-packs, surprisingly.

"Wow," Peyton said, catching her breath. Her and Jake were breathing pretty heavily and they hoped that no one else in the theater noticed.

"What?" Jake said, he looked up at the screen, "Oh damn!" Jake said, disbelievingly.

"I know!" Peyton said a little too loud, looking away while some people turned around to glare at her. Jake gave them a sympathetic smile.

"That is so weird." Jake whispered looking still at the screen. The guy's face on the screen was almost identical to Skill's face, the guy from the River Court. He wondered if Skill's had a twin brother or something.

Brooke had just gotten home from Lucas's house. She was sitting in her room on the computer when she noticed that Peyton had e-mailed her. She opened the e-mail, it was sent earlier that day:

Hey Brooke,  
Tried 2 call, got voice mail. Felt I had to tell you that... Jake and I are together! Ah, I am freaking out! Thx so much for talking to him, u r the best! Brooke, it was incredible, we just poured out our hearts to each other, details l8ter! GTG meet him right now!

-Best Friend Peyton

Brooke smiled. Jake and Peyton were so... perfect. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She was sure that Jake and Peyton had what her and Lucas had, but they also seemed to have more. It was like her relationship with Luc was purely physical and she was starting to think that that wasn't enough for her. She really cared for him, and she wanted to have an intellectual bond with him, as well as physical. She figured she probably wasn't so easy to read, so she should probably tell him that herself. But first, she needed some girl talk. She picked up her cell and called Tutorgirl, figuring that Peyton was still on her date. And nobody knew Luc better than Haley anyway.

"Hello?" Haley picked up at the second ring. Nathan had just left her house and she was glad that she now had something to occupy herself with.

"Tutorgirl! It's Brooke." As if Haley wouldn't recognize who it was by the nickname.

"Tigger, hey. What's up?" It was just passed ten o'clock, she figured that Brooke would still be with Lucas. But then Brooke would probably be a little too... well, busy to be calling her.

"Oh, I just left Lucas's. I think I need to connect more with him." She stated. She hoped that Haley could give her some good advice on what to do and how to do it.

"I thought you guys were all ready doing that?" Haley joked. But she could hear the seriousness in her friends voice.

"Haley, I'm serious!" Brooke said. Haley could tell she was because she never called her 'Haley'. "All that physical stuff is great and you know I can't get enough of him, but I think we need to... I dunno, talk more. I want to have an emotional connection with him too." 

"Tigger, if that's what you want I'm sure that's what you'll get. But he doesn't know that. I'm sure that he's all up for an intellectual relationship, and he likes you a lot, but you have to tell him how you feel." Brooke smiled, Haley always had the best words of wisdom.

"Thanks Tutorgirl! That's exactly what I'll do. I'll talk to you later." They hung up and Brooke didn't hesitate for a second to run out the door and drive back to where she was not long ago: Luc's house.

"Hello again, Cheery." Lucas said, surprised to see his girlfriend there at his door since she had only left about fifteen minutes ago. "What's going on?" He asked as she entered his room.

"Um, well, I wanted to talk to you." Brooke said feeling uneasy. She never talked to guys about her feelings, she wasn't used to feeling nervous around them either.

"About anything in particular?" Lucas asked, noticing that Brooke wasn't acting normal. She was moving around a lot and averting her eyes from his.

"About... us." Oh great, Lucas thought, here comes the break-up speech. He felt stupid for not noticing it sooner. He was scared that she would hurt him. He liked her a lot and was looking forward to a great relationship, both on a physical and emotional level. Lucas just nodded for her to continue, unable to find words.

"It's just... Well, I've had so much fun with you lately. And it's great and all, but..." God, get it together already, Brooke told herself. "I think that we need to connect more. I mean, emotionally. I really like you, Lucas, and if you're up for it, I just want to have a relationship with you where I can feel great just talking to you and where people can just look at us and say 'Wow, those two are crazy about each other'. And I don't know how you feel, but there it is. I like you a lot and I think that we are both ready to take this relationship to a more intellectual level." For the first time since she came, she looked up at him, and he was smiling like crazy. She relaxed a little and smiled too. Lucas took a step closer to her.

"You know, I was just thinking that we should do that, make our relationship stronger and more intellectual. And, by the way," He brought his voice down to a whisper and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, "I like you a lot too." He said. He bent down and kissed her and she kissed him back. She felt her heart beating so fast and she loved that feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: Hey guys! Sorry for not updating sooner! This fiction is all finished so I keep forgetting that I'm posting it here. But don't worry, I'll try to remember better now! Lol. Anyways, thanks to all that read this, and especially to those who replied: jeytonlover and jenny blue eyes. You guys are awesome! Thank you!_

**Chapter 6**

The movie was over and had been for a good thirty minutes, but neither Jake nor Peyton had noticed. They were too busy making out and totally getting into each other to notice everyone leaving the theater, talking, stomping, making all this noice that was unoticed by the two love-birds in the back.

Soon after a man who worked at the theater came in, saw the two and sighed. This happenes all the time, he thought. He hated doing it but he had to; it was his job. He lightly tapped Jake's shoulder and him and Peyton pulled apart, looking a little surprised.

"K guys, sorry to interupt, but uh.. you kids should get outa here. The movies over and I hafta clean up." He knew how kids could be sometimes and he could tell that these two were definitaly into each other big time and he hated to be the bad guy and ground them.

"Oh, of course." Jake said, embarassed.

"Yeah, sorry." Peyton mumbled as she put back on her jacket and followed Jake as they rushed out of the theater trying not to laugh out loud.

Peyton got her cell phone out to check the time and her messages. She was surprised to see that it was already eleven o'clock. She listened to her one message that she had gotten:

_"Hey bestest friend, Brooke here! Just called to tell you about my amazing night with the one and only Broody Scott and to check to see how your DATE is going? OK call me later with the details, I'm DYING here! Oh by the way, Haley and I convinced Nathan to have a part at his beach house for... well for nothing really, just cuz we felt like having one! Anyways tell you the details when you call ME with YOUR details! Love you! Bye!"_

Just hearing her best friend's cheery voice made Peyton smile. She couldn't wait to tell her all about her and Jake! Don't get me wrong, she loved hanging out with Jake, but she had spend the whole day with him and none with Brooke, and she really needed some girltalk. Plus she knew that Jake needed to get home to Jenny.

Peyton told Jake to drop her off at Brookes house. When they got there Peyton started to open the door.

"Wait! I'll get it for you, just wait there." Jake said excitedly. He get out of his side of the car and quickly ran over to her side and opened the door for her. She blushed.

"Thanks." She mumbled. They walked up to the door in silence, each one wondering how they were going to end their first date. When they got to the door they stopped and faced each other.

"Well..." Peyton couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound stupid, "I would invite you in, but uh... well, this isn't my house." She laughed uncomfortably. Jake smiled. She looks so cute, he thought.

"Yeah, and I should probably get home to Jenny." He said. Peyton nodded.

"Right. Thanks for being honest about her with me, Jake. I know it must not have been easy for you. But I want you to know that I'm not going to act any different to you know. Well, I am." She laughed a little. "But not cuz of Jenny. If anything she makes me have more respect for you."

"Thanks, Peyton. That means a lot to me. I really like that about you, Peyton. You're so understanding and you always know the right things to say at the right times." Peyton listened to him describe her the exact way she would describe him. "I hope that today, our date, is just the beginning. I'm really excited for this..." He waved his hand from her to him. "...us." Peyton smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. It was sweet and soft and then she pulled away put kept her face close to him. "So am I," she whispered. Jake felt the need to kiss her again, so he leaned in and captured her lips with his. The kiss intensified and they both were enveloped in each other's arms. They didn't even notice the door open and a smirking Brooke starring at them in her PJ's.

"I thought I heard a noise." She said, still smirking. Peyton and Jake broke apart and looked at Brooke. They were at a lose for words, not knowing how to make they situation seem at least a little bit normal. Finaly Peyton spoke:

"I, uh, asked Jake to drop me off here. I wanted to talk." She turned to Jake and gave him a peck, which left him wanting more, but he didn't complain. "I'll call you, K?" She said to him. He nodded to her, then to Brooke and turned around and left. Peyton entered Brooked house.

"OK, Missy Blond Girl, start from the beginning. And I want DETAILS!" Brooke stated as they jumped onto the couch. Peyton told her everything, from when he called her to just seconds ago when Brooke had caught them.

"Now," Peyton said once she was done with her recap of the night, "I want to know about your 'amazing night with the one and only Broody Scott!'" Peyton said, quoting Brooke's message. Brooke told her everything from her phone call with Haley to her and Lucas spilling out their feelings for each other to her and Lucas fooling around untill Haley called her. Haley had called Brooke to tell her that she really felt like having a party and that she thought that Nathan could have one at his parent's beach house and that Brooke was just the person to convince him. It didn't take much convincing since Nathan was quite the party-lover and Haley and Brooke had promised to take care of everything.

The girls stayed up all night talking about their boyfriends and about the party. They were both so excited to be planning it. They just hoped that the Tree Hill drama wouldn't catch up to them before or during the party.

Haley couldn't sleep. She had just gotten off the phone with Brooke who had told her all about her romantic evening with Luc. Her and Brooke had started to plan a party that would take place at Nathan's beach house. She was actualy really excited for it! She had never been very social but she figured that now, with her boyfriend being like the Social King and her two best girlfriends being Social Queens themselves, she figured she better start getting into the scene some more.

Since she couldn't sleep she figured she would think about something good. Some thing she would want to be dreaming about. She glanced down at her bracelet.

FLASHBACK

_Nathan and Haley were at the River Court. Nathan was showing off and at the same time trying to teach Haley how to shoot a free throw. She was desperately bad at basketball, she didn't know why she agreed to let Nathan try to teach her. Nathan was getting hot from running around the court and took off his shirt to reveal his nicely toned abbs and Haley then remembered why she had agreed._

Nathan knew he was being childish. Showing off his sports and body to get Haley's attention, but he didn't know any other way. He figured she wouldn't be too impressed, seeing how Haley didn't seem like the shallow type. And that's exactly what Nathan liked about her. He felt like stopping to teach her for a sec.

"Hey, why don't we take a break? Or on second thought, why don't we just stop? We can just sit," He nodded towards a bench, "And talk or whatever." 

"Sure," She said, as she grabbed the bag she had brought with her, "What about a snack?" She said, pulling out a bag of Chips and tossing them at him. Athletes were always hungry, she thought. He caught it, of course, and opened it as they sat down next to each other on the bench. They started talking about nothing in particular when the subject of how his parents were doing came up.

"It's crazy," Nathan said, not feeling the need to lie to Haley, "I mean, they act like they don't care what I want, what I think. They just bicker all the time and fight about who's a better parent, but they never ask what my opinion in all this is."

"What is your opinion?" Haley asked, truly curious.

"Personaly, I think that they should just get a divorce. As to who I'd live with I have no idea. I would probably rather live with my mom, but my dad is always saying he has some bad stuff on her, but neither of my parents will tell me what it is! And plus if I lived with my mom, my dad would never leave us alone and it would be just like it is now. But if I lived with my dad, I'm scared..." He didn't finish.

"You're scared he would turn you into him." Haley finished for him. She had never gone throught something like that, both her parents loved each other very much, but she understood what Nathan was feeling. She had heard a lot about Dan from him and Lucas. Nathan nodded. He put his hand into the bag of the chips to find it empty except for some piece of plastic. He pulled it out to see that it was a bracelet. He unwraped it, grabbed Haley's hand, and put it on her wrist. "For you." He said. "For being there for me, in hard times like this." Haley smiled. "Seriously, Hales, thanks. I can't talk about this with other people the way I can with you. You're just... I don't really know... you're special. You're different from other girls; you understand me, you treat me like a normal person and with respect. I like you, and I like the way I feel around you. Comfortable, I guess."

"Yeah..." Was all Haley could sai before Nathan's lips came crashing on hers. She felt butterflies in her stomach and so did he. Yes, he feels the same, Haley thought.  
I can't believe she feels the same, Nathan thought.

END OF FLASHBACK

Haley smiled as she dozed off to sleep; she was holding her bracelet in her hand.

Brooke and Peyton fell asleep on the couch. Peyton still in her clothes. They were both dreaming beautiful dreams about their boyfriends.

Lucas fell asleep with his Steinbeck book open on his bare chest. He hadn't put his shirt back on since Brooke had left. He had just layed down on his bed and ran over the previous events a million times in his head, not able to stop smiling. Eventualy he started reading and then fell asleep while reading.

Jake, the only one still awake at this hour, had just gotten Jenny to stop crying. She was now peacefully in her crib, not asleep yet. He picked up his guitar and started singing:

_Such a Lonely Boy  
Couldn't find the joy within  
Such a Lonely Girl  
Such a Lonely world we're livin' in  
I watch it all go by,  
Can't find a tear to cry._

That put Jenny to sleep right away. Jake climbed in bed and remembered what an incredible day it had been. He felt so lucky to have Peyton. He fell asleep thinking about her.

_AN: OK that's all for now! I know i know there was no Brucas! SORRY! I promise to have some next time! Hope you liked this chapter! Please reply! I will love you forever!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Ice cream for breakfast, Brooke?" Peyton said, laughing a little. It was already two o'clock in the afternoon, but they had just woken up and were about to have 'breakfast'.

"Are you saying you don't like ice cream?" Brooke asked, handing her best friend a pint of Cookies n' Cream ice cream. Peyton didn't answer but just took what her friend was handing her, smiling.

"So..." Peyton said while trying to swallow her spoon full of ice cream, "What are we doing today?" She could have guessed the answer just by seeing Brooke's face.

"Well best friend, we are having a boyfriend-free day. Plus, there is a party at Nathan's coming up, which can only mean that we have got to go-"

"Shopping!" Peyton finished for her. Brooke squealed with excitement. It was true that the two hadn't spend much alone time together lately. Each occupied with their busy love-lives. And although Brooke enjoyed shopping way more than Peyton, Peyton was looking forward to spending quality time with her best friend. And if she got to by a hot outfit for the party, then that was even better!

Jake had been able to get himself a busboy job at Karen's Cafe. He was working there today. He was so grateful that Karen had hired him so quickly, even thought he had no working experience what-so-ever. But when he told Karen about Jenny she had remembered how hard if was when she had Lucas and was near Jake's age, so she decided to help him out, with work and with Jenny.

Jake's shift was now over and be went behind the counter and leaned over the crib to check on Jenny. He was so thankful that she was such a calm baby. She had just slept through his whole shift. He was distracted from his admiration of his daughter by the sound of his cell phone ringing. Not wanting to wake up Jenny, or distract costumers, he went to the back, telling Karen on his way out that he would be back in a sec.

"Hello?" He said into his cell phone.

"Hello Jake. I wa-" Jake hung up the phone so fast and so hard that it fell out of his hands. It took him a while to realize what he had just done and he bent down to pick it back up. The events that had just happened, the person that had just called him, just dawned on him. What did she want, now? He hadn't meant to hang up on her, he was just so shocked! Not that she didn't deserve it... but he was curious at what was going on and what she wanted to say. His cell phone rang again. This time he planned to stay on it.

"Hello?" He said again.

"Jake. I'm here, in Tree Hill. You can't ignore me." The voice was so familiar and he knew the person to whom it belonged so well, yet he felt like she was just a stranger now.

"What do you want Nicki?" He asked to the one person that made him suffer for months and months. The person who broke his heart a long time ago. The person who he had just recently gotten over, or maybe would never get over. The person that walked out of his life.

"Look, Jake. I just want to talk. I made a mistake. You can't keep me away from my own daughter." He recognized a tone of desperation in her voice. Anger got built up inside Jake when Nicki mentioned Jenny as 'her own daughter'. Biologically, this was true. But if she was really her mother, where the hell had she been all this time?

"Your daughter? Nicki are not and will never be Jenny's mother! Oh yeah, and her name is Jenny, just incase you forgot!" Jake spat out to the woman he was once in love with.

"Jake this isn't fair, not to me and not to Jenny. I'm coming to see you and we can just talk." 

"This isn't fair? Nicki do you even know what fair is? 'Cause from your past actions it really doesn't seem like it? Let's not even talk about what you did to me, but you want to talk about Jenny. Fine! Let's talk about Jenny." Jake softened up his voice, "You held her in your arms. You carried her for nine months inside you and you gave birth to her. You looked at the angelic face of the child that you and I conceived, and you left. Nicki, when you left you walked out of both our lives. Mine and Jenny's! I won't let you cause the same pain you did to me to Jenny. I just... I won't! There is no way that I am letting you back in."

"Jenny needs a mother!" Nicki protested.

"No, Jenny needs a family! She has me, my parents and a ton of other people who are her family. They love Jenny and would never walk out on her. You gave up your chance on being her family a long time ago. Jenny is doing just fine without you."

"Look Jake, please. I was young, and scared, and I made a mistake."

"So? I was young and I was scared, but I skipped the whole making a mistake part. You made a HUGE mistake. And since I have a daughter I can't afford to make HUGE mistakes like that. But it seems like you had different priorities so..." Jake was tired of bickering. Nicki was probably at his house already and as much as he didn't want to talk to her, he had to try to get her to stay away. And somehow, he didn't think that was going to be easy, especially not over the phone. "Look, either go back where you came from, or wait outside my house. I'm not home yet and I don't want my parents to have to deal with you." He didn't wait for her to respond; he just hung up, sighed a couple times and went back inside.

He didn't think it was the best idea to go home with Jenny in his arms and for Nicki to just be there, so he left Jenny with Karen. He thanked her a million times and promised to be back to get her ASAP. He kissed his baby good-bye and was off.

Brooke and Peyton were at Forever 21, trying on almost the whole store. They had been in there for about an hour already and were no where near done. "Oh My Gosh!" Peyton heard Brooke squeal from the dressing room next to hers.

"What?" Peyton yelled back.

"I found it! I found the perfect outfit for the party! YES! Peyton get out of there I need to show you this!" Brooke said as she stepped out of her dressing room in a pink halter-top and a black mini. Peyton came out of her room wearing a vintage t-shirt and a jean mini skirt. It was always like this. Brooke was dressed cute and flirty and Peyton was more edgy yet still sexily dressed.

"You look hot!" They both said to each other at the same time, then laughed a little.

"Alright, here's the plan," Brooke said, "We buy these clothes as our party clothes, but hit all the other stores just incase."

"Sounds good." Peyton said, and they went back into their changing rooms to change back into their original clothes.

Jake hoped out of his car to find Nicki sitting on his front steps. He knew that this was going to happen, yet he was still surprised at her being there for some reason. He sighed and started to walk towards her. As he got closer he could see that she had been crying. But he knew better than to fall for that. He wasn't going to pity her, he knew she was still the same, partly because he could just sense it, and partly because of what she was wearing. She had on a low-cut top and her jeans were all purposely ripped up.

"Where's Jenny?" She asked.

"That's none of your business, Nicki. What more do you have to say to me? I'm not letting you back into my life, and that's that." He stated, full with confidence.

"I don't need to be in your life Jake, just in Jenny's. You can't change the fact that I'm her mother."

"A mother is someone who loves their child. Who cares for them and protects them with all their heart. Jenny has no such thing. She doesn't have a mother. You are too late to try and be one for her. Look Nicki, to tell the truth, I thought that you leaving was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. But it turns out you leaving was not the worst thing ever to happen to me, "He paused, "You coming back now is." He got out his key and put it in the lock on his front door, his back to Nicki now.

"I'm going to be in her life, Jake. With you, or without you." Jake knew that the words she had just spoken would never actually happen. He wouldn't let it. But the confidence in her voice scared him like nothing had ever scared him before. He opened the door and walked into his house, closing the door behind him just as Nicki turned around and walked away. He knew she would be back soon and he was really dreading it.

He remembered that he had to pick up Jenny at Karen's Cafe. He knew that he probably shouldn't go out of his house now, because Nicki could just follow him there and back, so he grabbed his cell phone and called the only person he could think of calling. It rang once before she picked up.

"Hello?" Peyton said. Her and Brooke were walking around in the mall, multiple bags in each hand.

"Hey, Peyton, sorry if I'm interrupting something." He could hear Brooke and Peyton laughing in the background and felt bad for interrupting and maybe cutting short their outing together.

"Oh, hey Jake! No, not at all. What's up?" She did a gesture to Brooke as if to say 'just a sec'.

"Well, uh. This is kind of a long story, I'll explain later, but could you um..." Just say it, Jake demanded to himself! He knew that Peyton would do it for him, but he felt so bad for asking her to. "Could you pick Jenny up? She's at Karen's. I'm uh, kind of having troubles at home so I can't really go pick her up and-" He was interrupted by Peyton.

"Yeah, of course, don't worry about it. I'll um, I'll be there as soon as I can." Peyton said, sorry to cut her shopping with Brooke short. But she knew that Brooke would be OK with it and understand.

"Thank you so much, Peyton. I owe you so much, I'll explain everything when you drop her off at my place. K, see you soon." They hung up and Peyton went to tell Brooke what was going on. Brooke, of course was fine with it. She had been missing Luc a lot and had gotten a really sweet message from him on her phone and wanted to go see him.

Peyton dropped Brooke off at Luc's and then went to Karen's to pick up Jenny. She wondered what trouble Jake was having and hoped it wasn't too serious. Things were just starting to pick up for her and Jake and the last thing they needed was some huge disaster to tear them apart. But Peyton wasn't too worried Jake seemed OK when he called her, just a little preoccupied.

Peyton walked into Karen's Cafe and saw Karen.

"Hey Karen. How are you?" Peyton asked, out of politeness. She liked Luc's mom, and from what she heard, she was really helping out with Jenny.

"Good, thanks. You're here to pick up Jenny aren't you? Jake called me to tell me." She said as she walked behind the counter. "You want some coffee?"

"Oh, no thanks. I should just go and bring Jenny back home." Karen took Jenny out of her crib and handed her over to Peyton. Jenny was crying, but as soon as Peyton started bouncing her around in her arms for a bit, she stopped. Peyton was surprised at how well she was at the whole baby thing. She wouldn't have thought she liked it but it turns out she enjoyed baby-sitting. And there was no better baby to baby-sit than Jenny.

"OK, well take care, Peyton." Karen said, waving good-bye.

"Bye!" Peyton said, walking out the door. "Hey Jenny!" She said in her best baby-voice. "Hey there girly!" Jenny gurgled and Peyton laughed. Jenny had her father's eyebrows, Peyton thought.

Brooke knocked on Luc's door that lead to his room. Lucas opened the door and was pleased to see Brooke.

"Boyfriend, hi!" She said and she gave him a peck on the lips.

"Hey, Cheery. I didn't think I would see you today, you didn't return my call." Lucas said as they walked into his room and sat on his bed.

"Nah, I was just shopping with Peyton, but then she had to do something for Jake so I came here!" She explained, not wanting to go into the details. "So, what's up?"

"Well," Lucas said, "Actually a lot has been going on lately."

"Like what?" Brooke asked, actually concerned. Her and Luc had been talking way more now, ever since their little confessions. And she liked it a lot, she was never bored at what he was saying and vise-versa.

"Alright you can't tell anyone this, but I was hanging out with Haley yesterday and I saw something. She got Nathan's jersey number tattooed on right above her $$." Lucas said, recalling yesterdays conversation between him and Haley. He had been surprised by her telling him that she was in love with Nathan, but he didn't doubt that it was real and that Nathan loved her back even thought Haley seemed unsure.

"Ok, I'm not going to ask why you were looking right above her $$..." Brooke laughed and Luc made a face. He considered Haley like a sister and it sort of disgusted him whenever people made romantic references to them. But he knew Brooke was just kidding, she knew that he only had eyes for her. "But wow! That's seems so unlike Tutorgirl! Are you sure it was real?"

"Yeah. Brooke, I think she's really in love with him. But she hasn't even told him about it yet, let alone told anybody else except me so you have to keep quiet about this." He said, knowing that Brooke was like the Gossip Queen. But he knew that she wouldn't say a word.

"My lips are sealed," She said. And she intended to keep it a secret. She knew how self conscious Haley could get. She would let her tell Nathan on her own time. And meanwhile, Brooke wouldn't comment at all about it. But she wondered when it would come out?

"As if that isn't enough news for me to handle," Lucas started, "It turns out that after I was born, Dan approached my mom about Joint Custody." He said.

"No way!" Brooke almost screamed. "But if he wanted to be a real dad to you, why is he always being such a jacka$$ to you?"

"I don't know. But I mean, this whole joint custody thing... It's really gotten me thinking. You know, maybe my mom telling him no was the thing that started it all?" Lucas told Brooke, honestly.

"Look Luc, I really don't think that that's it. I mean, look at how controlling Dan is with Nathan. Do you really want that? I'm not saying that you have a better life or anything, but it seems like there are more bad things about Dan than good. I don't think you should stress about it. Your mom loves you so much, and was trying to do what's best for you, and she was probably right to say no to him." Lucas nodded, understanding what Brooke had said. He was so thankful that he had her. Sure, he had Haley, but Haley was now spending so much time with Nathan. Brooke was always there to just make him feel so good about himself. Hearing Haley talk about Nathan yesterday, about how she loved him and why she loved him, got him thinking about Brooke a lot more than he already did lately. 

Nathan was at Haley's house. They had just finished their study session and were talking about the party that was going to be at Nathan's beach house.

"You know, it's going to be out first party since we got together." Nathan said.

"I know! It's so exciting!" Haley said. She rarely acted all giddy and almost ditzy but she liked getting overly excited about things. Nathan looked at her a little funny. He had never seen her this excited. "Sorry," Haley laughed, "It's just. I don't know. All the parties and popularity and dating a basketball jock stuff, it's just all knew to me. I never did that stuff before, and I'm excited because I'm starting to like it more and more! I never would have thought that I would have fun at a party, but I think I am really going to. I mean, it's kind of stupid, but I'm so happy that I get to have fun! It was always just studying before. And sure, I had fun with Lucas and all, but it wasn't the same. I mean, now: I'm dating you, and I'm friends with Peyton and Brooke, and random people in the halls say hi to me and know my name."

"It's called popularity, babe. Welcome to it! But you know that I like you the way you are. I don't want this whole popularity thing to change you, OK? I don't care how many people know your name, as long as you stay the same." Nathan said, seriously. "I didn't mean for that to rhyme." He said, embarrassed. Both him and Haley started laughing. When they had relaxed a little, Haley put her arms around Nathan's neck and he automatically put his around her waist.

"Don't worry, Nate. I won't change." She said, thinking of the tattoo she got a couple days ago, hoping that he wouldn't consider that a change. She didn't think that then would be the greatest time to tell him about it. Later, she thought, later is better. Nathan leaned down and kissed Haley sweetly.

Peyton parked her car right infront of Jake's house. She took Jenny out of her car seat (luckily, Jake had left Jenny's car seat at the cafe) and picked her up in her arms. As Peyton approached Jake's house, a woman to her left was coming near her. Peyton turned towards her.

"Aw, what a sweet baby." Nicki said, in a fake-sweet voice. "Can I hold her?" She asked innocently. Peyton knew better than to hand off a child that wasn't even hers to a stranger. She didn't think that anything bad would happen, but still... better safe then sorry, right?

"Um... actually, "Peyton thought of something to say, "I really have to get inside. Kind of in a rush, sorry." She started to walk towards the house but Nicki grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Jenny started crying and Peyton got a little aggravated. What was up with this woman?

"Hey! What is your problem?" Peyton said, close to yelling. She tried to calm Jenny, but she didn't succeed.

"I just want to hold Jenny." Nicki said. Peyton was surprised that she knew her name. She doubted it was a lucky guess.

Jake was inside, but close enough to the door to hear a baby crying. He rushed as fast as he could out the door to see if Jenny was OK. He got out just to see Peyton holding a crying Jenny and tell Nicki:

"How do you know her?" Peyton asked, noticing that Jake had come out of his house.

"Nicki!" Jake said, not yelling yet, but close to it. "What are you doing, Nicki?" He exclaimed, fully angry. The only reason he didn't go get Jenny was because he didn't want Nicki to see her. Of course that didn't work out as he had planned.

Nicki walked closer to Jake and whispered so that Peyton, who was staying back, couldn't hear her.

"You seriously don't think that you can replace me with her." Nicki said as she shot a quick glare at Peyton, who was glaring right back. "You won't let me see my own daughter, but you'll hand her off to some baby-sitter?"

"Nicki... Just leave Peyton out of this OK?" Jake said. How did this get so out of hand? He thought.

"I can't make any promises," Nicki said as she started walking away. Jake suddenly got scared that she would do something to Peyton. He knew how awful she could get and he didn't want Peyton to be caught in the middle of all this. He hated Nicki so much, and the fact that she had had the last word killed him, so as she was walking away, still close enough to hear him, he shouted at her:

"Sure you can. It's keeping them that seems to be the hard part for you!" She turned around to stare at him for a bit. Then she turned back around and just kept walking. If this wasn't such a tragic circumstance, Jake would have been happy with himself for having the last word. But considering that Nicki was still a threat to him, his daughter and his girlfriend, he needed to figure some things out.

"Who was that?" Peyton asked, finally getting Jenny to calm down.

"Nicki... she's uh..." Jake figured the truth was the only way to go in this one, "Nicki's Jenny's mom. She um, she left right after she gave birth." Jake looked at Peyton who seemed to be processing everything.

"Oh," Was all Peyton could say right now. She tried something else, "I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be. She's a btch. Jenny's better off without her," Jake said. Peyton stopped the 'well, duh,' from coming out of her mouth and just nodded. There was a silence, both teens needing to think things over. Jake was thinking about what Nicki had said about Peyton and Peyton thinking about what was going to happen between her and Jake next.

"Why don't you come in, Peyton?" Jake proposed. Peyton followed him inside, and handed Jenny to him. Jake kissed Jenny and laid her down in her crib.

"How do you feel? About all this? Nicki coming back and all?" Peyton asked. Maybe if Jake could have someone to talk to it would make things better. Jake didn't answer right away. He took several deep breaths and when he spoke to her, he didn't look her in the eye.

"You know, Peyton, I think that with Nicki around and all..." Come on man, just said it, he thought. "There's going to be a lot going on, what with Jenny and Nicki and probably legal matters, and I'll probably need another job to pay for a lawyer, and well... I don't know... Maybe we should just..." Peyton could guess what his next words would be but she didn't want to believe it. Was this actually happening? It was. And it hit her harder than a ten pound brick. "I think we should take a break... from us." For the first time in his whole speech he looked at her. Her eyes were glicening, but she wasn't crying... yet. He felt like such a jerk to do this to the girls he cared so much about.

"Oh, right, well, I should get going. Um, good luck. I'll see you around," Peyton mumbled as she ran out the door and into her car and sped off. What have you done, Jake thought to himself. He wished he could tell her the real reason why he had to do that. But he just... couldn't.

AN: OK that long chapter should make up for the delay. Sorry for the minimal Brucas and Naley! there will be more of those too later! PLEASE REVIEW! I will be so happy if you do!


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thank you so much to: jeytonlover, jennyblueEyes (I made Peyton say that Jenny has Jake's eyebrows cuz she says it in one episode of OTH, so ya, but I don't really get it either. Lol), ****2060mipy, OTHlover04. Your replies really really encourage me to continue, so thank you guys so much and please keep reading and reviewing!**

**Chapter 8: The Party**

The next five days at school actually went by fast for Peyton. She tried avoiding Jake. It was weird because they had never actually been friends. They just skipped that part along the way. Jake had said to Peyton at school one day that he wanted to be friends and she had agreed but it was all just too weird and hard for her to take. It would take some time for her to feel at ease around him. So for that week at school she simply surrounded herself with Haley and Brooke. Nathan and Lucas completely understood and let Peyton borrow their girlfriends for the week. Besides, they decided that they should find out what happened from Jake's side too. But Jake wouldn't tell them. He simply said that there were some new "complications" in his life and it just wasn't the right time. He said that Peyton deserved to get all of a man's attention and that he couldn't give that to her right now.

They all knew about Jenny by now. Jake had decided that he didn't want to keep it a secret anymore. That and, he didn't feel comfortable asking Peyton to baby-sit anymore (it seemed like she hated him now, he thought) and he didn't trust anyone else to, so he started bringing Jenny to practice. All the cheerleaders rushed around to take care of her and although Jake didn't really trust them much, he was grateful that Jenny got some attention that she deserved while he was busy. His heart hurt so much when he say Peyton play with Jenny at practice. She acted like everything was fine, but Jake could tell that she felt a little uncomfortable. But she didn't let that get in the way of her time with Jenny. Jake had to constantly remind himself that their break-up was for the best. Best for Peyton and best for Jenny. Best for him? He wasn't so sure...

It was Friday after school and the girls were hanging out at Peyton's house. Her father was on a business trip, like he always was, and the girls liked the privacy so they always went to Peyton's place. Peyton, for once, was actually happy that her father wasn't here that week. She didn't want him to know how sad she had been lately. And right now especially. They had gotten to her house from school fine and talked a little and that was all fine. But Peyton knew that they were just avoiding the topic of Jake and her's break-up. She hadn't told them about it yet and they didn't ask, knowing that when she was ready she would tell them. Feeling that it had been a long enough wait for her friends, she told them what happened. With Nikki, and everything.

Haley and Brooke were hugging her on both sides and Peyton had started to cry half-way through her story. She still had trouble understanding why they had to break-up!

"I'm so sorry, Peyton." Brooke said.

"Yeah, me too," said Haley, "I wonder what it's all about though."

"Yeah, me too." Peyton whispered.

"You know, I don't really know Jake. But from what I do know," Brooke said, "He seems really sweet. And it seems like he really cared about you. So, I don't know, he probably had some sort of reason to do this, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I know," Peyton said, "I just wish he would tell me what's really going on. I think I deserve to know."

"I know, I know, honey." Brooke said. She didn't even understand why Jake wouldn't tell her why he needed to break up with her. It was like the rules of breaking up! The person that has been broken up with deserves to know why! Only complete assholes don't give the actual reasons, unless you're in junior high! She did not want to think of Jake as one of them. She knew he wasn't.

"Look, I don't know if this is the right thing to say or the right time," Haley said, "But there is a bright side. Peyton, you are gorgeous, you are surrounded by so many friends that love you and are there for you, and there is a party tonight! We are going to get ready together, go together, and have so much fun there together! You will forget all about this!" Peyton gave her a smile and hugged her. She was actually happy to be having a party. She was tired of crying herself to sleep. Tonight, she'd either be too drunk, or tired to even have time to cry before falling asleep. Besides, she had already cried once today, and once was enough!

"Jake, dude, we were starting to think you weren't going to show!" Luc said as Jake entered Nathan's beach house. He was suppose to be there an hour earlier to help them set up for the party. Now the house was all set up and Nathan, Luc, and Tim were just playing PS2 while waiting for the party to start.

"I almost wasn't going to show." Jake said honestly, and Luc didn't ask why because he knew he wouldn't get much out of him. Nikki had shown up at Jake's house earlier that day. He had been able to brush her off but he knew it was only a matter of time until she came back so he had decided to skip the party. But then, he thought that maybe the right thing to do was not to let Nikki intimidate him and to actually have fun for once. He explained the situation to his parents and they all agreed that even though they would be home that night, keeping Jenny at their house where Nikki could always come, wasn't the greatest idea. So Jake took Jenny to the only place he trusted other than Peyton, Karen. She had agreed to baby-sit her that night because she was closing the cafe early and she thought that Jake deserved a night to have fun with his friends.

Jake walked into the huge house and started hanging out with the guys. He felt better already, but he knew that good feeling would leave once he say Peyton walking through that door. Don't get me wrong, one of the only reasons he came was just to see Peyton, but he was scared that he might not be able to resist. She would look all hot and just... mess up his mind. He didn't want to ignore her the whole night, but he didn't see any other way for him to keep his cool!

The girls took a little longer than planed to get ready. They were supposed to get to the party early but they knew they would get there late. The guys knew it too, so they didn't worry.

Haley looked stunning in a cute but conservative outfit: A T-shirt that showed her midriff a little and jeans. She had decided to keep it casual. Her hair was down in loose curls.

Brooke looked glamorous; she wouldn't have it any other way. She wore the pink halter top and black mini skirt that she had gotten from Forever 21 with Peyton the weekend before. He hair was also down and straight.

Peyton chose to go with her outfit from Forever 21. Keeping her vintagy look with her vintage T-shirt and jean skirt. She looked beautiful, and no one except Brooke and Haley would be able to know that not long ago she had been sobbing.

When the girls arrived at Nathan's beach house, the party was already in full swing. When they opened the door they were happy to find the guys waiting there for them. At least Haley and Brooke were... They walked off with their boyfriends, but first making sure that Peyton was going to be OK, Peyton nodded and watched her best friends walk off with their perfect boyfriends and she sighed. Jake was now talking to Tim and some girl (Tim had his arm around her) who she could only assume was Tim's next victim. Poor girl, thought Peyton. She smiled and wondered if Tim would ever change? No, she thought, probably not.

Peyton looked around: on the dance floor EVERYONE was paired up. She saw Nathan and Haley dancing there. She decided she couldn't go there, she would seem weird with out a guy. And she didn't want some greasy guy that all the other girls rejected to come up all close to her so she passed. She saw a corner where some guys were already drunk, close to them she say Brooke and Lucas heavily making out. Wow, she thought, we've only been here 5 minutes! So, she had been excited to come to this party why? she asked herself. She sighed and headed for the bathroom. 

"Hey, Nathan!" Tim yelled to Nathan. He had to yell over the music. Nathan and Haley had stopped dancing and Brooke and Lucas had taken a break from making out and not Nathan and Lucas and Tim were all talking while Brooke and Haley talked.

"Yeah, man." Nathan answered.

"Dude, how'd you get her to do it?" Tim asked.

"Tim, what are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Dude, everyone is talking about it. How'd you get Haley to do it?"

"What?" Nathan yelled, misunderstanding what Tim was talking about, "Not that it's any of your business, but we didn't have sex!"

"Hey, calm down, man. I didn't mean that. I'm talking about the," he lowered his voice, "t-a-t-t-o-o." he spelled it out.

"Tim, no one is listening you can just say tat-" He only then realized what it was Tim was spelling out. The shock hit him all at once. "The WHAT?" He yelled. Just then he scanned the crowd for Haley. Just when he saw her she bent down to pick something up and there it was: 23 written clearly right above her a$$. He was so surprised that Haley, HIS Haley would do something like that. He was so dazed that he didn't even notice Tim saying:

"Wait a sec? You didn't know? Dude, like EVERYONE is talking about it." Tim patted his friend on the back. "Good luck, man."

Haley turned around to see Nathan's shocked expression and she knew what it was about. It was only a matter of time until he saw it... her tattoo. She wanted to tell him, she was just scared of how he would react. But now, seeing his face, she knew she should have told him before. She walked towards him and he didn't budge. He was probably still too stunned to move.

"Can we just... talk about this in private?" Haley asked. Nathan came back to earth and realized that Haley was standing right in front of him and what she had said. He nodded and they walked to an empty room.

Peyton dug through her purse and took out her iPod. Yes, she thought, real good music will do the trick! She just sat herself in the tub and listened.

_Take my photo off the wall  
If it just won't sing for you  
'Cause all that's left has gone away  
And there's nothing there for you to prove_

Nathan and Haley had been sitting in the room in complete silence.

"Nathan please say something," Haley pleaded. She really hoped that he wouldn't be mad. She didn't regret getting the tattoo.

"What do you want me to say?" Nathan was obveously mad.

"Nathan, I'm sorry OK. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before. But I'm not sorry that I got the tattoo."

Nathan took several deep breaths. "OK." was all he could say.

"Well, what are you feeling? Does it bother you?" Haley asked.

"I'm just confused as hell! It's so unlike you, Haley. And to have to hear it from Tim? I just... I don't understand."

"Nathan, I'm sorry about the way you found out about it. But you need to know, that I did this because I wanted to. And I don't regret it. I don't know if it creeps you out or if you're flattered by it."

"I guess neither. Haley, I am trying my best to understand all this but I can't! I mean, you'll do something that permanent to yourself, but you won't have sex with me?" Right when he said it he realized it was the wrong this to say and he wished he hadn't said it. It was just a spur of the moment thing. He was pissed so he spat out something he really didn't mean.

"Nathan that's not fair." Haley said in a low voice, as she got up, "And you know it." She said before she left the room. Nathan sighed and followed her. But he didn't get a chance to talk to her because he noticed someone he had never seen, someone that didn't belong here, at the door.

A tall brunette in tall black boots appeared at the door.

"Well well well, Look's like a party. Did you forget to invite me?" Jake recognized the voice right away.

"Nikki, what are you doing here?" He said as he walked towards her. He didn't want to make a scene, this wasn't even his party to ruin.

"I came to see you, Jake. We need to talk." A couple of people had stopped dancing and looked at them. Lucas and Nathan gave Jake 'what's going on?' looks and Haley and Brooke got all worried. Maybe this had something to do with Jake's hidden reason for the break-up? they thought.

_Oh, look what you've done  
You've made a fool of everyone  
Oh well, it seems likes such fun  
Until you lose what you had won_

Tears built up in Peyton's eyes but she didn't let them drop. Why had she chosen to listen to this song? Sure it was a great song, but 'lose what you had won'? I mean, if any song could remind her of the break-up, this one would be it. She really cared for Jake. She decided that she should maybe try, I mean really try, being just his friend. They weren't going to get back together by her just sulking all the time. She got up from the tub, straightened out the folds in her skirt and checked her hair in the mirror. She decided to keep the song going because she liked it way more than the music at the party.

_Give me back my point of view  
'Cause I just can't think for you  
I can hardly hear you say  
What should I do, well you choose_

Jake and Nikki found an empty room to talk in. Normally Jake wouldn't even consider talking to Nikki, especialy sense he had had a few drinks and wouldn't be thinking completely straight, but he didn't want her to ruin the party, which he knew she would do if he didn't agree to talk to her. Jake sat down on the bed in the room and Nikki sat real close to him, on purpose. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and she knew that this would make it way easier for her.

_Oh, look what you've done  
You've made a fool of everyone  
Oh well, it seems likes such fun  
Until you lose what you had won_

"Jake, I still love you, you know." Nikki said as she started kissing his neck.

"Nikki, don't do this. I have waited so long to hear those words come out of your mouth. But now? Now, I just want you to leave me alone!" Jake said, trying to push her away. Damn, he missed Peyton. But he also missed Nikki. She used to give him such happiness and satisfaction. He missed that. He had no female role in his life story anymore, besides Jenny. Maybe he wasn't over Nikki, or maybe it was just the alcohol getting to his brain, but for a second he considered giving in to temptation.

_Oh, look what you've done  
You've made a fool of everyone  
A fool of everyone  
A fool of everyone_

Peyton walked out of the bathroom and into the main room of the party. She looked around but couldn't find Jake anywhere. She decided to keep looking around the house. Maybe, just maybe, he was as lonely as her and had decided to keep to himself in an empty room just like she had moments before.

_Take my photo off the wall  
If it just won't sing for you  
'Cause all that's left has gone away  
And there's nothing there for you to do_

"Come back to me, Jake." Nikki said as she kept kissing Jake's neck. She noticed that he was getting weaker and weaker and she took his silence as her chance. She kissed him on the lips. He kissed back. And then pulled back. When he was about to say something, she pulled him in again to continue their kissing and he gave up and kissed her back. He was weak, and he knew in his gut that it was wrong, but he head was confused and drunk and he gave into temptation. He just kept kissing her back.

_Oh, look what you've done  
You've made a fool of everyone  
Oh well, it seems likes such fun  
Until you lose what you had won_

"Oh, sorry, I was just looking for someone!" Peyton was so embarrassed. She was just looking for Jake in one of the rooms and she had walked in on a couple making out. She smiled, sure she felt bad, but the situation was quite funny... unill she realized who she had walked in on. The couple pulled apart to reveal that slut that had pushed Peyton infront of Jake's house and... Jake. Peyton's heart skipped a beat. And she didn't turn around and run away fast enough for Jake not to see the tears in her eyes and fall down her cheeks. Her heart broke, more than it already was. His heart broke. Nikki smirked.

Jake got up. "Peyton! Hold up!" He ran after her and Nikki ran after him.

"Jake, just let her go! You already broke her heart!" She yelled after him when they were in the main room. Peyton had already ran out the door and Jake knew that now, when he was drunk, guilty, and all other negative things, it was not the right thing to keep chasing after Peyton right now. Nikki relaxed when she saw that Jake had stopped. Everyone in the room was starting at them. Someone in particular caught Nikki's eye. Nikki was slightly drunk, bitter to see Jake run after some random girl trying to take her place, and she was out to get her next victim. She smiled an evil grin.

"Well well well. If it isn't Lucas Scott!" She sniggered. Lucas glared at her. Brooke looked at Lucas.

"Do you know her?" Brooke asked.

"No, he doesn't know me." Nikki said for him, "and all I know about him is that he's great in bed. Wouldn't you agree?" She said to Brooke with a smile on her face. Brooke's expression turned from shock to anger to just plain sadness. She couldn't even muster up one word.

"Nikki..." Lucas said, warning her with his tone.

"What? Afraid your little girlfriend here will think I'm competition? Well don't worry," She turned to Brooke, "I'm not interested. With Lucas it was just a one-night-stand type of thing. Besides, I'm with Jake now." Brooke was speechless. She couldn't face Lucas right now, or anyone. She grabbed Haley and they ran out the door to go find Peyton and go home. Lucas would have ran after her but he heard an engine running already and when he looked out the window he saw Haley, Brooke and Peyton in Brooke car, speeding off. He sighed. He knew that this one mistake would come back to haunt him.

"Nikki, you've done enough damage for tonight. Just go." Jake was tired so he wasn't yelling. He was begging. And Nikki just got pleasure out of it. But she had came and did what she had to do for tonight, she thought. So she did as she was told and walked out the door, smirking. A tear streamed down Jake's cheek as all the previous events all came crashing down on him. "What am I gonna do?" He said silently to himself as he leaned against the wall and slid down so he was sitting on the floor, crying.

_Oh, look what you've done  
You've made a fool of everyone  
A fool of everyone  
A fool of everyone_

**  
AN: OK that's all for now! That song was Look What You've Done by Jet. PLEASE REVIEW! It would mean so much to me! Thanks so much!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey guys! Sry I haven't updated in a while! And this update might be a little short, I'm really sorry! But the reviews were really wonderful! I didn't expect to get that many and it was great! Thanks so much to: jeytonlover, jeyton4ever, sheri ai jakku, jennyblueEyes, and jacqueline22393. You guys are great and I loved your reviews!**

**Chapter 9**

Jake woke up with a killer head ache. He remembered the events of the night before and made a mental note to dedicate the rest of the weekend to getting Peyton to at least talk to him. He thought the likeliness of that actually happening was very slim, but he had no idea how hard it would actually be...

Peyton woke up to feel a damp spot on her pillow where she had cried and cried until sleep finally had creep up on her. So much for not crying myself to sleep, she thought. The only time she could remember having cried so much was when her mother had died. She still wasn't really over that. So, how long will it take to get over this? She thought.

Nathan had stayed and spend the night at the beach house; not wanting to go back to the madness at his house. His parents were in the middle of a divorce and Nathan knew that in order to get through this he needed Haley. He picked up hiss cell phone and dialed her number.

"Hello?" Haley said, loud and clear. He loved how no matter what time of the day or how wild last night had been, she still managed to put on a good loud voice. He admitted that her loud voice did however, cause his head to hurt even more than it already did from his hang-over.

"Hey Hales, it's me." Nathan said, knowing that she would recognize his voice.

"Oh... Hey Nathan." Haley said nervously. Did he not remember that they had had a fight last night? she thought. They had left things a little unclear because Brooke had just pulled her away. She hadn't talked to Nathan since then.

"Do you think you can come over? I really want to see you." 

"Nathan, I don't know..." It was too awkward for Haley. She didn't know if she should apologize for not telling him about the tattoo or if she should be mad because of what he had said.

"Come on, Hales. We need to talk and not over the phone. Please?" Nathan pleaded.

"I'm still mad at you, Nathan." Haley said, deciding that she had more right to be mad than he did.

"I know. Let me make it up to you. Please, come on Hales." When Haley didn't say anything for a while, Nathan took that as a yes. "Great, thanks Hales. I'm at the beach house, just get here soon!" They hung up.

On one hand, Haley felt that she shouldn't go. She thought that she should wait longer. Nathan's words had cut her deep last night and she didn't quite recover yet. But on the other hand, she was curious about how Nathan planed to make it up to her. Haley knew how week she could get. One simple 'I'm sorry' and a glance at those baby-blues would make Haley completely crumple. But that was one of the things she loved about him. She knew that he apologized a lot, but for some reason she always knew that he meant it. When he was talking to her, he was always so sincere and sweet. She got up and got out the door and started the walk to the Scott's beach house.

Peyton's phone was ringing and she really didn't want to pick it up. ring ring ring ring.

"Shut up!" Peyton screamed at her own phone. And if this were anyother day she would have laughed at herself for being so stupid as to talk to her phone, but today it was like her lips were stuck as a frown. And her phone just kept ringing and she was getting really annoyed.

"Hello?" Peyton said grumpily as she answered it.

"Peyton! OK, Don't hang up!" Jake yelled into the phone. Just when he was about to give up on calling her she had picked up.

Peyton hung up and threw her cell across her room when it started ringing again. It stopped ringing when it hit her wall and split into two. Stupid phone. Stupid Jake. Stupid Jake's voice on the stupid phone. Stupid party, stupid Nikki. Stupid night staying up crying stupid tears on her stupid pillow. Stupid Peyton...

"I'm coming!" Yelled Brooke from her kitchen as she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to find Lucas there. She knew she didn't really have a right to be mad at him. It's not like he had slept with Nikki when they were together or anything, but she was still hurt for some reason. The whole one-night-stand was not something the Lucas she thought she knew would do.

"Hi." Luc said. "Can we talk?" He asked. Brooke stepped out side onto her porch.

"Sure." Brooke said.

"OK." how do I start, Lucas thought? "Look, I made a mistake. It was a bad day. I had gotten into a fight with Haley and Dan was giving me trouble. I was just... fed up. It was a while ago, like a year maybe. I met Nikki at a bar and things just... I don't know, happened. Look, it was a mistake and there's not a day that goes by that I don't regret it. I'm just not that kind of guy. You can't compare the nothingness that I had with Nikki to what we had. Because you mean everything to me, Brooke. I don't want a stupid mistake I made a long time ago to ruin anything between us."

"I know, Luc. And I'm not mad. I mean, if anyone should know about one-night-stands, it's me right?" Brooke smiled. Lucas's little speech there had touched her heart and she was glowing.

"You're more than that Brooke. I learned that when we started dating and you made me feel so... I don't know, loved? Wow, that sounds really stupid. I'm not saying that you, you know, love me or anything. But I mean just the way I feel. I don't want to freak you out or anything. I was just saying that what we have, it's just. Well, I mean-" If Brooke didn't intervene soon enough, Lucas would just go one stuttering and saying nonsense. Brooke actually kind of enjoyed it, it was cute, but she had something she wanted to say.

"Luc, I love you." She said quietly. Lucas looked so surprised. Then a huge grin spread from ear to ear on his face. He walked closer to her.

"I love you too, Brooke." He whispered and although from his smile Brooke had guessed he would say those words, when he said them she still felt electricity go through her whole body from her heart. Lucas bent down and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. Just as the kiss ended, Brooke was reminded of something.

"Oh my gosh! I just remembered what happened to Peyton last night! Oh my God! I have to go see her. Sorry Broody!" And with that said, she gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek and ran off in the direction of Peyton's house.

**AN: Yes, I know that was too short! I'm really sorry! Still, reviews are soooo greatly appreciated! THX!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: OK guys, that last update was really short, and this one isn't that long either, but I felt like since that one was so short I was going to post this one earlier than I had planned. You guys, the reviews blew me away! Seriously, I really didn't think that this many people would be interested in this fic, but you guys seem to be and I'm so grateful for that! Thank you all so much! **

**You guys rock: **Kaitlan, angel6 aka trinigyal, jeytonlover, CCScott23, jennyblueEyes, jacqueline22393.

**jennyblueEyes: ya I completely see what you mean. The thing is, I wrote this fic a while ago and it was my first, so that's probably why it's not the greatest and it seems a little rushed. I've written more since and I think my writing has gotten better, but I completely agree, looking back on this fic it does seem a little rushed. But it's already finished, I don't know, I'll probably look into the chapters and try to make them better. Thanks so much for pointing that out! **

**Chapter 10**

Brooke finally turned the corner onto Peyton's block. As she had guessed and dreaded, Jake was standing infront knocking on the door.

"Hey! Jake!" Brooke yelled as she ran to him. She was so out of breath from running the whole way but somehow she was still able to yell. Jake stopped knocking and turned towards her.

"Brooke, hey. Do you know if Peyton's home?"

"She told me what happened, Jake. And if you think that I'm going to help you find her then you're dead wrong."

"Look, Brooke, I just want to explain-"

"That's nice, Jake, really _really _nice! But save it! 'Cause she doesn't want to hear it! Look, Jake," Brooke said, softening her voice, "When you broke up with her, she was devastated... You know the feeling right? You know: when you're thinking that things can't get any worse? Do you have any idea what it feels like when things actually do get worse, much _much_ worse? It hurts, Jake. It kills. You have no idea all the damage you did, Jake, even if you didn't mean to. That doesn't matter. There is nothing you can say to make the situation any better. If there is even any chance that you can fix things with Peyton, it's not by just coming by the day after you screwed-up just to 'explain'. It takes way _way_ more." When Brooke finished, Jake sighed. He knew she was right.

"I know, I know." He said, more to himself than to Brooke. "God, I really screwed up this time too! The only thing that matters that much to be other than Jenny, and I just... ruin it." Jake sighed again. How could be so reckless? he asked himself. He hung his head low and walked away. His eyes glistened from tears threatening to fall. This did not go unnoticed by Brooke.

Just then the door opened to reveal a disheveled-looking Peyton. Brooke walked into her house and hugged her best friend for what seemed like hours but still wasn't enough. It was obvious that Peyton had been crying and only a few seconds after they pulled apart, she started crying again.

"Peyton, hunny, did you hear?" She was referring to her and Jake's little conversation out on Peyton's porch. Peyton nodded her head. "He was crying you know." Brooke said. Peyton looked a little shocked to hear that.

"I don't know if I can forgive him, Brooke." She whispered as she was starting to ease up with the tears. They sat down on a nearby couch. "When I hear his voice, I don't think of the sweet, charming guy that I fell head-over-heals for, I only just get reminded of that night with him and Nikki." Tears welled up in her eyes once more but she didn't let them fall.

"I know, hun." Brooke said, thinking that now was obviously not the time to tell her best friend about her and Lucas's 'I love you's'. "Maybe you should just give it time. It probably feels like you'll never get over it know, but I guarantee it'll get easier over time." Peyton just nodded. She loved having her best friend there to comfort her. She thought she would just lock herself in her room all day but hanging out with Brooke was way better. She needed to get out of the house, she thought.

"Brooke, do you think we could go to the mall or something?"

"You'd think you knew me better than that, P. Sawyer. Do I ever say no to shopping?" And with that Peyton grabbed some change and they left the house, arms linked.

Before Haley could even knock on the door, it was opened by an eager Nathan.

"Haley!" He yelled a little too loud, considering she was about a foot away. "Sorry. Come in." He saw that she was about to protest so he added, "Come on, Haley, just... talk to me?" He pleaded and she accepted and stepped into the beach house.

"Nathan, I want to talk, really I do. I want to know what you're thinking about my...," Why couldn't she said it? TATTOO! The word just wouldn't come out of her mouth, it sounded too weird. "About what we talked about before. But I'm still mad about what you said."

"I know I know, Hales. And I'm sorry. So SO sorry. Look, I'm just trying really hard not to pressure you and to become a better guy. But I guess... The guy that I used to be, is still in there somewhere. I don't want him to be, but that's just... how it is. I like you; who you are. It's not about sex with me. Honestly, I have no idea why I even said... what I said before. I didn't mean it." Haley was silent so Nathan felt he had to ask, "So, do you forgive me Hales?" Haley took a few deep breaths and really thought about what Nathan had just said. She really believed him, from the bottom of her heart she knew she was being honest. But for some reason she still felt bothered by the whole sex-issue. But she decided to ignore it, knowing that it would come back to haunt her later.

"Yes, Nathan. And do you forgive me? For not telling you about my... my tattoo?" She had said it!

"Yes Hales. It just shocked me... that's all." Nathan smirked, "I actually think it's kind of sexy." Haley smiled.

"Really?" Haley asked as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She reached up and kissed him hard on the lips. As the kiss deepened both Haley and Nathan felt their hearts jump about in their chests. A surge of electricity flew through both of them. Haley wasn't an idiot. There was a reason she got his jersey number tattooed on her and their was a reason she was feeling what she was feeling every time she was around him. She was in love with him. And she wanted to tell him. She just hoped he felt the same way.

When they broke apart, she gazed deep into his eyes and she knew she could no longer keep her feelings for him to herself.

"Nathan, there's something I need to tell you." Please let him feel the same, she thought! And just as she was about to say it, her cell phone rang. Normally she would think it wasn't important and just not answer, but the moment was killed and she got too embarrassed so she picked it up.

"Hello?" She said into her phone. She mouthed 'sorry' to Nathan. He seemed fine with it.

"Tutorgirl! We need you pronto!" Brookes voice said.

"We?" Haley asked, hoping she didn't mean her and Lucas. Lucas was like a brother to her and she did not enjoy watching him and Brooke make out.

"Yeah, me and Peyton. We're at the mall, come and join us for a girl's shopping day! We haven't hung out in forever!" Brooke said, knowing perfectly well that they had hung out just the night before while getting ready for the party.

"Oh my God! I just remembered what happened with Peyton and Jake yesterday! Is she Okay?" Haley asked.

"Well... She will be. Just get your a$$ over here!" They hung up. Haley looked apologetically at Nathan who had heard the whole conversation.

"It's okay." he said before Haley even said sorry. "But was there something you wanted to tell me?" Haley bit her lip.

"Umm, you know what? It can wait. Girl-time duty calls! I'll see you later." She gave him a peck on the lips and was off.

Lucas decided to go visit Jake. He didn't really know what was going on and he wanted some answers. Brooke was busy for the day talking with Peyton so he decided to talk to Jake and get his side of things. He wondered where Nikki was in all this. He really thought that Jake cared a lot for Peyton. He didn't know the reason for their break-up but he doubted that Jake could actually like Nikki enough to want to hook-up with her right after his break-up with Peyton. What was going on?

He reached Jake's house and found Jake sitting on the front steps with Jenny in his arms, sleeping.

"Hey man." Jake said, not even trying to smile. His tone said everything. How crummy he was feeling.

"Hey. What's going on?" Lucas asked.

"More than you could ever imagine, actually." Jake said and Luke gave him a confused look. So Jake felt the need to explain. "Nikki's Jenny's mother. She left right after giving birth and then just showed up about a week ago. Now, all of a sudden she wants custody of Jenny and when she found out I was seeing Peyton she threatened to do something to her and I just couldn't bare that thought so I-"

"Broke up with Peyton." Luke finished for him. It was all starting to make sense for him.

"Yeah. And then at the party. I was kind of... well, drunk, not that that explains anything. But Nikki found me and kind of... took advantage of the situation. I was week and well... you can guess the rest." Jake looked up at Luke.

"Damn, Jake. You slept with Nikki only a week after you broke up with Peyton?" Lucas almost yelled.

"Nah, man, nothing like that. We just started kissing and I don't know... I was week, like I said, and lonely and drunk and just... stupid. Look, I messed up, BIG time, I know. But I need her, Luke? I mean, you know what it's like... to be in love?" Lucas nodded and although he realized that Jake had been a jackass for doing that to Peyton, he did feel sorry for him. He couldn't imagine not being able to be with Brooke. And he knew how seductive Nikki could be, with Jake drunk and all she could really mess with his mind.

"Well, you got to get her back, man!" Lucas said. "I know how you feel about her. And I know that what you guys have can make it though this. But first, you have to get rid of the bad. Which means"

"Get rid of Nikki," Jake finished for him. Lucas nodded. "So, if somehow, by some miracle I can get rid of Nikki, then I will still need to get Peyton to talk to me." Jake sighed, he was talking to himself now and Lucas knew it.

"I'm going to head back to my house now. Leave you to your planning." Lucas said smiling.

"Alright man. Thanks a lot for this little... heart-to-heart." Jake and Luke laughed. "I better go start brainstorming how to get Nikki out of my life and Peyton back into it." And with that Lucas left and Jake walked back into his house, Jenny still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

**AN: I would really appreciate reviews! I really want to know what you guys think, good or bad! Thank you so much! Much Love!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey guys! Life has been really hectic and I'm really sorry for not updating sooner! I promise updates will be way more frequent from now on! Probably once a week, if I can! Thanks so much for hanging in there! Thank you SOOOO much to all of you who replied! I love hearing what you think, and I am so happy that you guys seem to like it!**

**Chapter 11**

For the next couple of weeks Jake had not come to school. He had decided to do everything in his power to get Nikki out of his and Jenny's lives. He had gotten a day-job at a local store and was paid decently so with that and his shifts at Karen's cafe, he was able to pay a good lawyer to finally fight Nikki in the custody case for Jenny. After much digging around and late nights working, Jake and his lawyer and his parents were able to defeat Nikki and Jake got full custody of Jenny.

Peyton was of course too important for Jake to ignore for a series of three or four weeks, even though he knew she would be ignoring him. But it was hard since he was so busy and had stopped coming to school. But he wasn't going to let Peyton slip slowly out of his life. He knew that no matter how much she probably hated him, she still really loved Jenny, almost as much as he did. So he had an excuse to write to her. He knew that trying to see her or even talk to her on the phone was out of the question, so everyday he wrote to her. Everyday for the past couple of weeks he wrote little or long notes to her and slipped them in her mailbox. He made sure to include a PS about how the situation with Jenny was going. But the main parts of his notes included his apologies, which he knew would just be annoying to Peyton but she needed to hear them.

Now that the whole custody matter was done, he quit his day-job and planned to go back to school. The administration was letting him, since they were aware of his situation. So the day before he was coming back to school, he left his last note in Peyton's mailbox.

_Dear Peyton,  
I know you probably hate me and are getting sick and tired of these notes. I don't blame you. And I swear this is the last note I will be leaving to you... at least for a while. You have to know that despite everything, I still care for you as much as before. No, scratch that, more than before. You only really realize what you had until it's gone. I have realize that now. I know I'm probably way too late, and I've made too big a mistake this time, but I still hope that one day you can forgive me. And if that day is sooner rather than later, I will be ecstatic. You have to know that if you let me back into your life, I will never EVER do anything to lose you. You mean too much to me. And if you don't want me in your life than I can't protest because it's your right, and I would probably do the same thing if I was in your position._

But I am asking, no I am BEGGING, for you to please PLEASE listen to what I have to say. I want to talk to you in person. I NEED to explain myself. If you still have any hint of any feelings for me anymore, and I don't blame you if you don't, please let me speak to you.

I was never one to believe in second chances, I didn't give Nikki one, why should you give me one, right? But I am hoping with all my heart that you will. If not for me, than for Jenny. She can't talk, walk, or really do much at all, but anyone can see that that girl loves you. We need you in our lives, Peyton.  
Forever yours,  
Jake

"I have to tell you guys something..." Peyton said uneasily to Brooke and Haley. They were in the middle of History class, but when had that really stopped them from having a conversation? Brooke and Haley just nodded for her to continue. "OK, well you know how Jake hasn't been to school lately and everyone has no idea what's going on with him?"

"Yeah," Brooke said, "Which I think is so mean of him. I mean he barely tried to get you back or at least apologize. Instead he just disappears! Outrageous..." Brooke mumbled. She had specifically told Jake to try something big to get Peyton back but he had done the exact opposite!

"Well, that's the thing... Jake's been writing to me." Brooke and Haley had expressions of utter surprise. "Yeah..." Peyton continued, "He said that he didn't want to invade or anything by trying to talk to me in person so he's been writing notes to me and putting them in my mailbox everyday."

"Oh my God!" Brooke squealed.

"What did they say?" Haley asked.

"A whole bunch of stuff about asking for forgiveness and how stupid he was. Oh and he still tells me about Jenny. He got full custody of her, that's why he hasn't been to school, he's been just so busy with everything. I like hearing all that because, I don't know how things will work out with me and Jake but I really love Jenny." Peyton told them.

"Awwwww," Brooke said. "So are you going to forgive him?"

"I don't know, Brooke. I don't even know when I'll get to see him! I have no idea when he's coming back to school." Brooke and Haley both nodded in response and then the bell rang and it was the end of school. They all left the class room and Haley was headed towards her locker that she shared with Nathan and Brooke toward hers and Luc's and Peyton... well just toward her own.

"OK, I have the BEST idea!" Yelled Brooke as her and Luke met at their locker. Luke leaned down and pecked his girlfriend.

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" He asked.

"We have to have a party!" Brooke squealed.

"Brooke, remember what happened at the last party?"

"Oh but that would SO not happen again! I promise! The reason I think we should have one is to 1) celebrate Jake getting custody of Jenny, I'll explain how I know that later. And 2) to get Peyton and Jake back on track! It's the perfect plan." Lucas didn't seem like he thought it was as perfect as Brooke did. "Come on, Broody. It'll be fun!"

Lucas sighed, "OK, but if it's just a repeat of the last party then you will get a big fat 'I told you so!' from me!" He said as he poked her in the stomach. Brooke giggled.

"Oh no you would not even dare!" She said sticking her finger on his chest. "And it won't be. I promise, totally drama-free party! Pleeease... Don't you love me?" She gave him puppy-dog eyes and how could he resist?

"I think you already know the answer to that." He said as he bent down to kiss her. After a short while they pulled apart. "Ok OK, I trust you, we'll have a fun, drama-free party."

"YES! Now we have to come up with a Jake and Peyton reuniting plan!" She said and Lucas just rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Nathan, long time no-see!" Haley said as she met him at their locker. They hugged.

"Uh, Haley, I saw you at lunch today." He said, not that he was complaining. He loved it when Haley was happy to see him, which was most of the time.

"Well it felt like longer." Haley laughed at how stupid she sounded. While her and Nathan did have really emotional, powerful moments, they also had flirty, sort of immature moments too. But it was a nice balance of the two. Haley was glad that she had found someone that she would act normal around. To everyone, she was just 'the smart girl', but to Nathan she was just 'the girl'. The only girl that made Nathan feel... well as great as he made her feel. Haley loved him, and she knew it was real because she felt it with ALL her heart. But apart from being smart, Haley was also very shy. She wanted to tell Nathan how she felt, but it had to be the right time and place.

"Well, I missed you too, Hales." He bent down and gave her a peck. "How have you been? Since lunch, I mean?"

"Well, I have something to tell you," Nathan nodded, "Well, it turns out that the reason Jake hasn't been here was because he was too busy... " She liked building the suspense. Well, that and the kick she got out of seeing Nathan's annoyed expression when she did that, "Getting full custody of Jenny!" She yelled.

"No way! That's awesome." He said. He had been pulling for Jake to win against Nikki. Even though his feelings toward his friend was kind of mixed now, after what he had done to Peyton. He could tell that he really cared for Peyton, maybe as much as Nathan for Haley. So how could he do that to her? Nathan couldn't even imagine doing anything like that to Haley. "How are him and Peyton doing?"

"Um. Actually not very well. But I hope they find a way to get back together, they are like the cutest couple!" Haley exclaimed getting a little too excited, jumping up and down.

"Hey?" Nathan said pretending to be hurt, "I thought we were the cutest couple!" He said grabbing Haley by her hips and bringing her closer.

"OOOOh, riiight. It must have slipped my mind!" Haley said, teasing him.

"Well it would never slip mine. I could never stop thinking about you, Haley James." He said, and Haley detected a hint of seriousness in his voice that made her heart leap. They kissed, which only had her heart leap higher.

Nikki watched from across the street. Oh, here comes the bitch now, she thought as she heard footsteps. That Peyton girl had ruined everything. Everything for her and Jake and everything for her and Jenny. She was going to pay. But soon enough, Nikki realized that the footsteps weren't Peyton's, they were Jake's. Why on Earth is Jake going to Peyton's house when no one is even there? Nikki thought. Before Jake could see her, she walked backwards and hid in the bushes.

She saw Jake walk up the steps to the Sawyer residence and put a folded piece of paper in the mailbox. Nikki smiled, an evil grin as she formed a brand new plan in her mind. Perfect, she thought.

Peyton parked her convertible right infront of her house. She put her messenger bag over her shoulder and got out of her car and walked up the steps to her empty house. She checked the mailbox, knowing that the mail came later, but it wasn't exactly mail that she was looking for. But she found what she had expected. A small folded, white piece of paper. She smiled. Even though she still didn't really forgive Jake, and her heart was still aching from what he had done, she still thought what he was doing, with all the notes, was adorable. Who wouldn't?

She read the note and found the contents to be utterly unexpected. She forced herself to read it all the way through before bursting into tears and running into the house, dropping the note on the ground infront of her house.

_Dear Peyton,  
I know you are probably getting sick and tired of these notes, and I am tired of writing them. If you don't want to forgive me then, fine! I will move on, and you will never hear from me again. You had your chance to forgive me and for us to get back together but now it's too late. So this is my last letter I am leaving for you because I know that now it is officially over. There is nothing either of us can do to help it. It is best for you to get out of my life and for me to get out of yours. I am sick of apologizing, and I don't think I want to be with someone so unforgiving anyways. Good bye, Peyton, forever._

Jake.

**AN: OK guys I hope you liked it! Another update should be up next week! Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hey guys, I just want to say that I love receiving reviews for this fic! All of them are so helpful and super nice! Thank you to: jeyton4ever, xXxOutsideOfYurWidowWithMyRadioxXx, sugary sweet, rockerchick224, and jacqueline22393. You guys are wonderful!**

**Chapter 12**

When was the last time that Peyton had actually slept well one night? She asked herself as she woke up the next morning with bags under her eyes and a pile of tissues next to her reminding her of how much she had cried the night before. Another long day at school. How could she tell Brooke and Haley this? There was no way the words would come out of her mouth without her bursting into tears again. Peyton used to barely ever cry but ever since Jake had come into her life she had been crying ten times as much. And she didn't like it one bit. How could one second Jake make her feel so wonderful and the next feel so awful!

She got up and got ready and was out the door soon enough. Thankfully, she didn't look down at the ground where the letter lay as she walked down her front steps and into her convertible.

Jake woke up at ten o'clock the next morning, the morning that he was supposed to be back at school. Oh, crap! He said to himself. He had expected to wake up early from Jenny's cries, but for some reason he hadn't this morning. However, Jenny's crib was empty. Suddenly a sense of panic came over him and he rushed into the kitchen. There he found his mom cradling Jenny in her arms. Jake sighed as he heart beat got back to a normal pace.

"Mom, why didn't you wake me up?" Jake asked.

"Well, Jenny was crying so hard and you still didn't wake up. So I took care of her and figured that you probably didn't sleep so well last night, considering you normally hear her, so I let you sleep in. It's OK, Jake, you've missed a month of school I don't think one morning will make that much difference."

"Yeah, I guess. Well I should probably get going. Thanks mom, for taking care of Jenny." He grabbed his bag and walked out. It was true, he hadn't had a good night's sleep last night. He was scared... nervous about what was going to happen today at school. Would Peyton talk to him? Even look at him? He didn't think he could take it if she didn't.

On top of getting full custody of Jenny, Jake had also gotten a restraining order against Nikki, so she was forced to leave the town of Tree Hill. She did as she was told and Jake felt a heavy weight off of his back.

"OK, Broody, I worked real hard last night on our plan." Brooke said to Lucas during History class. She was whispering making sure Peyton couldn't hear them.

"You mean _your_ plan." Lucas corrected.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyways, I came up with the perfect thing!" Lucas nodded for her to continue. "Well, it took a lot of thinking, since Peyton and Jake aren't exactly... like us, couple-wise I mean. They are more... how can I say this... low-key. And man, it is a good thing Jake is good with words because I think what these two need is to just be locked in a room and not to come out until they have made up!"

"That's your plan? To lock them in a room?"

"No, silly. I won't_ lock_ them in. I'll just, I don't know, encourage them to talk to each other. Look, yesterday it seemed like Peyton was actually considering forgiving Jake, but it's not like she's just going to go up and talk to him. And Jake is all shy, just sending notes to her, he's not about to just walk up to her because he thinks she hates him. So, they just need a push towards each other. Once they are face-to-face... alone... magic will happen!" Brooke said, envisioning the whole thing in her mind.

"OK, I kind of see where you're getting at." Lucas said, understanding where his girlfriend was coming from. He knew that both Jake and Peyton were shy and just needed a little push to get them back on track. "So, what do you want me to do to help?"

"All you have to do is make sure Jake comes to the party. It's going to be at my house on Friday. And make sure he's open for a Peyton confrontation. We can't get them talking just for him to not know what to say and start stuttering. This might be his only chance, he has to be ready."

"Ok, I can do that."

"Great. I'll take care of Peyton. Oh, and make sure Jake doesn't get drunk this time, I want them to make-up sober." Lucas laughed and nodded.

Just then the door to the class room opened and there stood none other than Jake.

"Sorry," He said to the teacher and he took his seat... next to Peyton. He tried to make eye contact with her but she avoided him, keeping her eyes fixed on the board or on her sketch she was drawing. He didn't think that now, in the middle of class, was the best time to talk to her, so he waited, trying to rehears what he was going to say in his head until the bell rang.

Peyton was up and out the door onto her next class, which Jake was not in, before Jake could even realize that the bell had rung. He silently cursed himself for not being quicker and went to his next class.

Before they knew it, it was lunch.

"Ok guys, I have an announcement to make," Brooke said to the gang. Jake was not there yet. It was Brooke, Lucas, Nathan, Haley and Peyton sitting at the table.

"Lucas, you didn't knock her up did you?" Nathan teased his brother and Haley hit his shoulder.

"Haha." Lucas said sarcastically. Nathan chuckled.

"Ok, anyways... I'm having a party at my house on Friday!" Brooke squealed. Everyone else was not so enthusiastic, however.

"Uh... Brooke, remember what happened at the last party?" Haley said, trying to not make Peyton feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, tutorgirl, I remember. But this party is just for fun! Come on, when was the last time you guys had fun. I mean _really_ had fun?"

"She does have a point." Nathan said, receiving another hit on the shoulder from Haley. "Hey?" He said. Haley rolled her eyes. Of course, they were just play-fighting; they were taking a break from all the drama. "No, I didn't mean I don't have fun with you. I love being with you, Hales." He said sweetly, kissing her on the cheek, and she blushed. I love being with you, he had said, Haley thought. In her mind she just crossed out the "being with" part.

Everyone else agreed that a party would be fun. Then they saw Jake walk towards their table and everyone suddenly got a little uneasy.

Jake took a deep breath. "Peyton, can we, um talk?" The rest of the gang started to mumble excuses to leave but Peyton stopped them.

"No guys it's OK. Jake and I have nothing to talk about." She turned to Jake, "It's like you said, we're better off out of each other's lives. So just, stay away from me." She said as she got up and stormed off. Haley and Brooke followed after her and Jake was about to but he was stopped by Lucas and Jake.

"Look man, I don't know what happened between you two, but how could you say that? Do you really want her out of your life?" Nathan asked.

"_No_!" Jake said, he was so confused, "I never said that, I swear."

"Well, it sounds like she somehow got the wrong message. You need to find a way to clear it up for her, man." Lucas said, leaving the table to go find his girlfriend, followed closely by Nathan. Leaving a very confused Jake standing... alone.

**AN: OK, that's it! It's definitely not the best chapter, but the next few are better, I promise. Only three more chapters left! Please tell me what you thought! REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hey guys, sorry for the wait! Thanks so much for the fantastic reviews! They really make me happy! Thanks to: jeyton4ever, xXxOutsideOfYurWidowWithMyRadioxXx, jacqueline22393, sugary sweet, and jeytonlover (I seriously don't know what happened to me last time to forget thanking you, I must have been seriously out of it! I'm SO sorry! Your reviews are always so sweet, thanks so much!)**

**Chapter 13**

Ten minutes later, Jake was still standing in the same spot, still wondering what the hell Peyton was talking about. He would never say he wanted her out of his life because he would never feel that. What made her think that? He wondered if any of his notes had even done anything to help her consider to give him another shot. He was just glad Nikki was gone and could no longer do any more harm. Jake started walking off, with unlikely chances of getting Peyton to talk to him.

"Oh no you don't!" Brooke yelled as he saw Jake approaching the corner where Haley, Peyton and her were sitting. Peyton wasn't crying, but she had just told her two best friends about that last letter she had found in her mailbox the day before and they were outraged! Brooke mostly. She got up and started forcing Jake to turn around.

"Brooke, just let me talk to her!" Jake protested.

"No, Jake, just leave, I think you've done enough harm! Beat it!" She yelled.

"Look, just let me explain. I don't even know what she's talking about! I never said I wanted her out of my life!" Jake said, trying to be loud enough for Peyton to hear.

"Well, you better get your story straight." Brooke considered the situation for a second. Jake did seem pretty innocent for a bad guy, and in his eyes all she could see was honesty. "You have five minutes. And if when I get back, I regret having given you this opportunity... " She didn't finish her sentence, guessing that Jake would get the picture. He nodded.

"Thanks," he said as Brooke left, followed by Haley. Peyton looked around, avoiding his eyes. They just stood there for what seemed like a very long time to Jake. He didn't want to waste any of his five minutes Brooke had promised him, so he started the conversation, deciding to get right to the point.

"Peyton, tell me what's going on. Did you get my notes?"

"Yeah, I got your notes." Peyton said, starting to get a little mad. Why was Jake playing dumb? she thought.

"Well, did you read them?" Jake asked. Peyton just glared at him and gave him a sarcastic look. "Right, sorry, stupid question. Look, I meant what I said. I can't believe I was so stupid. I made a reckless mistake. OK? And I admit it. But I promise it won't happen again. You mean so much to me Peyton, you have no idea. I don't want to lose you." Jake said. And Peyton knew he was being honest. She could just... tell... somehow. But she couldn't get over everything. Why was he being all two-faced? Did he only have the guts to say what he really thought on paper? Or was it that he wrote that note, not meaning it? All the other relationships she had been in were so easy. What was wrong with this one? It seemed to her that it was always Jake who screwed up. HE is the one who broke up with HER. HE is the one who hooked-up with someone just the day after and HE is the one who sent that awful note to her.

"You won't lose me, Jake. Because you won't have another chance to..." Peyton said sadly. She couldn't believe she was saying these words to the only guy she had ever felt this way about, but it was just to... hard? complicated? She didn't know, but all she knew was that she couldn't take it anymore. "I'm already gone." And with that she walked away leaving a Jake, on the verge of tears.

"Dude, what happened?" Lucas said approaching Jake, accompanied by Nathan.

"I lost her, man." Jake said, shaking his head. "For real this time."

"I can't believe it, man." Nathan said. "I really thought you guys could work through anything. Maybe there's still hope?"

"I doubt it." Jake said.

"You know..." Lucas said, starting a thought, not sure if he should finish it.

"What?" Jake and Nathan both said at the same time.

"Well, you know there's going to be a party, at Brooke's house on Friday. Maybe it's the right opportunity to... I don't know, work things out?" Lucas suggested.

Jake thought for a bit. "I don't know. Remember what happened at the last party?" He said, not wanting to remember what had happened.

"Well yeah, but I was thinking, maybe this time you could be sober." Lucas laughed a little. "I don't know. You can talk things out. Any grand, romantic gestures you got up your sleeve, Jegelski?" Lucas asked.

Jake nodded. "Actually... I think I can think of something." He said. Nathan and Lucas both looked at him as if to ask 'what?'. "Thanks guys. I guess I will go to this party." He said as the bell rang and the gang had to go to class.

"So, don't tell anyone, but it looks like Jake has something planed to get Peyton back at the party." Nathan whispered to Haley. Haley couldn't help but squeal, pretty loudly too, forgetting she was in the middle of class. The teacher stopped in his lecture.

"Something amusing you, Ms. James?" He asked.

"No, Mr. Turner, I'm sorry." She said. Since she was a straight A student, the teachers liked her and she got off easy, Mr. Turner just went on with the class. Haley scribbled a note to Nathan and threw it on his lap, which accidentally landed on his crotch. Haley had to control herself to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Oopps." she whispered. "Sorry."

"As if you weren't aiming!" Nathan whispered back laughing. He opened the note:

-- What's Jake going to do? It better be good.

Nathan scribbled a note back:

-- He wouldn't tell us. But knowing Jake, it'll probably be romantic.

Haley smiled. Jake and Peyton just had a ... connection, and EVERYONE could see it. She wondered if people thought that about her and Nathan. It sure didn't seem like they had such a great connection. She couldn't even tell him how she felt for Christ's sake! She scribbled back a note:

--This party is going to be SO fun!

AN: I know that may not have been that good. But it's just building up for what's to come! But I have a feeling the Party chapters are going to be good! OK please Review and tell me what you thought! thanks so much for reading!

NEXT:  
PARTY!  
What's Jake romantic gesture?

Will Naley ever say 'I love you'?


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Hey guys. This is the second to last chapter! I hope you guys like it! Thank you so much for reviewing! Thanks to: **jeytonloverJPBLNH lvrxXxOutsideOfYurWidowWithMyRadioxXxjeyton4eversugary sweetjacqueline22393

Anything to be with you:

**Chapter 14**

Peyton, Haley and Brooke were getting ready for the party at Brooke's house.

"So, do you know if Jake's coming?" asked Brooke. She knew he was coming because Lucas had told her, but she wasn't sure if Peyton knew or not.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Peyton said. OK, so it wasn't exactly the truth, but she wanted so badly to not care about Jake the way she did; it would make her life so much easier.

"You don't mean that." Haley stated, knowing perfectly well how Peyton felt for Jake. It was the same way Haley felt for Nathan.

Peyton sighed. "I'm a mess, you guys." Peyton admitted, "We barely went out! It shouldn't be too big a deal; but for some reason... it is. I don't know what's gotten into me."

"I do," Brooke said, "You're in love."

Haley knew this was about Peyton, but she couldn't help just thinking about Nathan and her relationship with him. 'you're in love, you're in love' the words were ringing inside her and Peyton's heads over and over again.

"Trust me," Brooke continued, "You'll want to tell him how you feel. Because once you do, you'll feel so great about yourself."

Haley and Peyton both contemplated the idea for a bit and both came to the same conclusion: 'I need to tell him.' Then Peyton snapped out of her thoughts for fear of looking stupid.

"Please tell me out world hasn't turned completely up-side-down for BROOKE to be the voice of wisdom!" Peyton said, jokingly.

Jake, Nathan and Lucas were all getting ready for the party at Nate's house.

"Come on, man, you won't even give us a hint?" Nathan asked Jake. Jake had refused to tell them what he had planned that night for Peyton.

"Not a chance," Jake told them, "There's no way I'm telling you guys before Peyton!" He said. He had everything planned except one thing. What should I say? He thought. He had planned to just speak from his heart, but now he was getting a little nervous. What if she didn't feel the same?

Nathan could recognize the look in Jake's eyes when he talked about Peyton. He knew it all too well. Haley had been driving him crazy. But definitely not in a bad way. There was not a second that passed when he wasn't thinking about her. When he was with her he never wanted to leave. He wanted to be with her forever... literally.

The boys had promised the girls that they would be at the party early, so they got there ten minutes before the party was suppose to start.

"Girls!" Lucas called out as he let himself and his companions into the house. "Brooke, Peyton, Haley where are you?" He called again.

"Hey there, boyfriend." Brooke said, walking down the stairs to Lucas. "Nathan. Jake." She greeted the two others. She was wearing a red tube-top and a short black skirt. Lucas thought he might feint.

"Wow." Lucas said and Brooke smiled. "You look beautiful."

"Are you saying I don't always look beautiful?" Brooke teased.

"No! No no no... God no!" Lucas stuttered.

"So, that's a 'no'?" Brooke loved seeing him stutter, it was adorable; and she loved teasing him about it.

Lucas smiled and grabbed both Brookes' hands. "Come here." He said as he pulled her closer. When he was about to kiss her, Brooke said:

"Oh! Wait." She wiped off her lip gloss on the back of her hand and then placed her arms around his neck. (By now Nathan and Jake had found somewhere else to be.) "There. Now where were we?" She asked.

"We were right about here," Lucas said and then he kissed her softly.

Upstairs, Haley was still getting dressed and Peyton was putting on her make-up. Haley was in Brooke's bedroom and Peyton was in the bathroom.

Nathan and Jake walked up the stairs. Jake had no idea what to do once Nathan went to see Haley. Should he go find Peyton? Or should he just stand in the middle of the hall, waiting? Either way he would probably look like an idiot.

"Haley?" Nathan called out.

"I'm in Brooke's room!" she called back. Nathan had no idea which room was Brooke's but he was able to follow Haley's voice to it. He opened the door to find Haley, with her back to him.

"Hey," Nathan said.

"Hey," Haley answered turning her head around to see him. "Do you mind tying my top? I can't really get it." She said, pulling her hair to the side revealing her bare upper-back, making Nathan almost lose his breath.

"Um... you know? I'll just get Peyton to do it." He said trying to control himself, as he walked out of the room leaving Haley totally confused.

'you idiot!' Nathan said to himself over and over. Now Haley was going to think he was mad at her and that was the LAST thing he wanted her to think. This whole thing with Haley... falling in love... it was all so new to him. He never had to feel nervous around girls; it just wasn't an issue.

And as much as he hated feeling so unbalanced, there was no better feeling than the feeling of being so in love.

Nathan really hoped he hadn't hurt Haley. He was giving all the wrong signs. He just didn't know how to act anymore.

"Hey," Jake said, a little above a whisper. He was standing at the doorway of the bathroom where Peyton was touching-up her make-up. She was stunning. Peyton looked over. Well, she thought, might as well be civil. She didn't want to ruin the party with a fight.

"Hi." She said turning back to the mirror, it was too hard to look at Jake in the eye.

"So, I've been trying to figure out what you meant. When you were saying that I said I wanted you out of my life..."

"And?"

"And... I got nothing. Peyton I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't want you out of my life, I never have, in fact if you were out of my life I don't know what I'd do without you. Even with you ignoring me, I still need you there. Just to see you smile, or laugh, or just to glance over at what your sketching during History class. Whatever time of my life I spend on trying to get you back, I know that if you ever forgive me, it will all be worth it." Jake said, not expecting to say what he did, but the words just poured out.

'Don't cry, Peyton, be strong.' Peyton told herself.

"Maybe, you should have thought about that before you wrote that last letter!" she said, not yelling but close to it.

"What was it in that last letter that upset you so much?" Jake asked.

"Are you honestly asking that?" Peyton couldn't believe this! "Oh, I don't know, try all of it! No, what was my favorite part?" Peyton said sarcastically, "When you said I took to long to forgive you or hm... maybe when you said that we were better off out of each others lives!"

"What are you talking about?" Jake said. Peyton was getting so sick of this! Did she have to spell it out for him?

"I'm tired of this Jake. We both know what was in that letter." She said, just as a crowd of people came through the door. "So, are you going to tell me what you're feeling or not?" She asked. Jake sighed. He wanted so badly just to scream it from the top of his lungs, but somehow, the words couldn't come out. He looked down at the ground.

"Fine." Peyton said, "Now, there's a party going on, so excuse me." She said coldly and she went downstairs.

"Hey, Brooke, look I'm really sorry, but I got to go... uh, do something. I'll be back really soon, I promise." He said to Brooke as he rushed out the door. He had to go pick something up at his house. OK, so his house was two miles away, but he had come to the party with Nathan and Lucas so he didn't have a car, so he started the long walk home. He decided to sprint it, he didn't want to miss the whole party.

As he was sprinting past Peyton's house, something caught his eye. It was a crumpled piece of paper in the bushes. He didn't know why but something inside him told him to pick it up and look at it, so that's exactly what he did. It looked like letter and he immediately recognized the hand-writing. Nikki. He couldn't help thinking that she was so stupid not to fake her handwriting. But what was he thinking? Her plan had worked anyway. Then he noticed the signature and he saw his name there. Things in his mind, everything Peyton had said, had started to get clearer as he skimmed the note. Oh God, he thought. What had Nikki done?

Why hadn't he just told Peyton how he felt? Because there was something he needed to do first...

"Nathan, what is going on with you?" Haley asked.

"Nothing, Haley, what are you talking about?" Nathan lied, trying to brush it off.

"You've been avoiding me, Nate. If you want... we can talk abo-"

"Oh! Um, can we finish this later?" Nathan interrupted. "I, uh... I kind of have to talk to Tim." He walked toward a ground of guys, Tim included. He knew he was going a big jerk and he really hated himself right now. In fact Haley probably hated him too, he thought.

Jake came back to the party not long after, out of breath, 1) from all the sprinting, and 2) from the heavy lifting. He put down what he was carrying near the doorway and walked around, looking for someone he recognized.

Peyton was hanging out with Brooke and Lucas, but was kind of uncomfortable. She wasn't really listening to Brooke and Lucas argue over which reality show was the best.

"Ew! I can't believe you love Fear Factor. Gross!" Brooke squealed and Lucas laughed.

"What? At least it's interesting. I mean, how can you stand half an hour of listening to random people sing badly?" Lucas said.

"Hey! American Idol gave us Kelly Clarkson! Her music is way more enjoyable then watching people eat spiders or whatever!" Brooke said.

"Oh My Gosh, you guys! Who cares?" Peyton said a little too loud and too crabby. Brooke and Lucas looked surprised. Peyton immediately felt awful. "Oh God, guys, I'm sorry for snapping like that. It's just... Jake problems." Brooke and Lucas understood and nodded. Haley walked towards them looking sad and annoyed.

"Men!" Haley said, exasperated. She didn't understand Nathan at all at the moment. She sighed.

Nathan was hanging out with the guys but completely not concentrated at all. He looked around the room to find Haley talking to the rest of the gang. He wanted to go over there and just kiss Haley and tell her he loved her, but what were the chances she would feel the same? After all the things he had said tonight to her. He wouldn't blame her if she just dumped him right then and there. Just then, Haley bent down to pick something up and he caught a glimce of her tattoo and that just pushed him over the top. He couldn't take it any more; he couldn't keep it all inside.

He walked over to the gang. "Hales, can we talk?" He asked pleadingly. Haley looked at him annoyed, but nodded and followed him to a corner of the room.

"Haley, I'm going crazy! I mean, I'm... I'm a mess! I can't concentrate on basketball, because I just remember the time I tried to teach you how to play and then we ended up having out first kiss. I can't concentrate in class, because, well everything I know, you taught me! If I've been a jerk lately it's only because... You've- you've taken over my mind! And for the longest time, I couldn't figure out what was happening to me! I mean, this sort of thing, what I'm... what I'm feeling, it's never happened to me before. And then I found it." Nathan took a second to breathe and Haley looked up at him. "I fell in love with you. I love you, Hales. There it is. I said it." He said, his heart racing, and his eyes full of hope.

Haley could not remember a time feeling so breath-take. She never imagined that love would feel this great. People all around the room had stopped their conversations and were staring at Haley to see her answer. But she didn't notice them, all she saw was Nathan.

"I love you, too Nate." She whispered. Nathan sighed with relief and kissed her hard. Haley responded, putting in as much passion as possible into that kiss. People around started clapping and the music had stopped.

Nathan and Haley were interrupted from the voice of someone coming form the mic. They broke apart and looked to the keeper of that voice. Jake.

"Uh... Yeah, I'm not really umm... good at talking, in public. Actually, I'm not good at talking at all." Jake said, nervously. Ever sense he could remember he had had a bad case of stage-fright. But this was the only way he could get out what he was feeling. "Um, normally I only sing for my daughter, Jenny. But um, this seemed like the right opportunity for this specific song. Um... Peyton, you asked me how I felt and I just froze. But the truth is I love you Peyton. I just had to say it. And I don't really know how better to express my feelings for you then through this song." He said as he started strumming his guitar and then singing.

"_I wont talk  
I wont breathe  
I wont move till you finally see  
That you belong with me_"

Peyton felt herself get short of breath. He loves me? _He_... loves _me_?

"_You might think I don't look  
But deep inside  
In the corner of my mind  
I'm attached to you  
I'm weak  
Its true  
Cause I'm afraid to know the answers  
Do you want me too?  
Cause my heart keeps falling faster_"

No one had ever done anything so romantic for her before. She couldn't believe it.

"_I've waited all my life  
To cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
Its time to try  
Anything to be with you  
All my life I've waited  
This is true_"

Could she forgive him? Forget everything that had happened?

"_You don't know what you do  
Every time you walk into the room  
I'm afraid to move  
I'm weak  
It's true  
I'm just scared to know the ending  
Do you see me too?  
Do you even know u met me?_"

Could she find it in her heart to let him in again?

"_I've waited all my life to cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
Its time to try anything to be with you  
All my life I've waited  
This is true_"

Would he screw it up again? Was she willing to risk getting her heart broken again?

"_I know when I go I'll be on my way to you  
The way that's true_"

No, she couldn't take the risk. As nice a feeling as it was to be loved by someone that she herself loved, she couldn't bare the thought of ever feeling as bad as she had these past few weeks again. She got up and without anyone noticing, she slipped out the door.

"_I've waited all my life to cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
Its time to try anything to be with you  
All my life I've waited  
This is true_"

Jake strummed the last chord on his guitar and looked up to find a few couples slow-dancing, and a crowd clapping for him. He gave them a nod as to say 'thank you'. But he couldn't find the one person he was looking for in the crowd. Where had Peyton gone? And then he heard the sound of an engine coming from outside.

Soon party music started to play again and people went about their business. Jake hurried to get out the door and bumped into Lucas on his way.

"Hey, man, that was awesome." Lucas said.

"Oh, thanks Luke." Jake answered.

"Sure. Man, when I said a romantic gesture, I was thinking candy, roses, groveling for forgiveness, you really out-did yourself man." Lucas said honestly.

"Wait, you thought that was my grand romantic gesture?" Jake asked. "Nah, that was just... preparation for it." He said, trying to chose the right words. "Sorry, to cut out on you, but I kind of need to see Peyton." He said as he walked out the front door to Brooke's house and ran out to find Peyton.

**AN: Alright guys, I'm leaving you there! And WOW that was way longer than i expected it to be. sry if it was kinda more naley than jeyton, it just sort of turned out that way somehow lol. I hope you guys liked it! Please read and review! Song: True, by Ryan Cabrera.**

NEXT:  
THE LAST CHAPTER!  
All Jeyton!  
that's all I'll tell u... muahahaha!


	15. Chapter 15

_AN: Wow! OK this is the LAST chapter! So exciting! I really hope you guys have liked this fic. I was very happy to share it with you. You're reviews were great, thanks sooo much! Thx to: cutestar89 (thx so much for your really nice review. Yes, Nikki did write that note.), JPNeverlosetheButterflies, jeytonlover (you are amazing! You read both my fics that are up here, and your reviews are always so sweet. Thanks so much!), and jeyton4ever!_

**Chapter 15**

Jake pushed through the front door to Brookes house and hurried down the steps as he heard the sound of an engine again... and again. It was easy to find Peyton sitting in her car, because the top was down. As he walked towards her he saw her try again and again to get her car to start but it just wouldn't work and Jake was SO relieved and thankful. It must be fate, he thought.

It was dark, so Peyton didn't notice Jake standing about a foot away from her car.

"Peyton." Jake said making Peyton jump. He had frightened her.

"Jesus!" She yelled, her heart racing from the scare he had given her.

"Nah, it's just me." Jake said smiling. But it wasn't a cocky smile, it was a genuine, sweet smile. The one Peyton couldn't help smiling back to, which is exactly what she did. They just stayed like that for a little, in silence, staring at each other.

"Can we talk?" Jake asked, with a hopeful look on his face. Peyton just nodded and got out of her car. Jake took a second to think of what to say. He took a deep breath, and Peyton just waited. "It was Nikki." He said.

"What was?" Peyton said.

"That note, that last note that you found. Nikki wrote it. I swear, I would never say those things because I never once felt that way about you or about us. She must have found my note and gotten mad and written her own to get back at me."

"Oh," Was all Peyton could say. Of course she believed him. She didn't think Jake could be so inconsiderate as to write those things and it seemed very possible that Nikki would be mean enough to do that.

"Peyton, I'm sorry." Jake said, and Peyton just stayed silent. "Do you remember that day we got together?"

Peyton didn't answer, she just looked down. Of course she remembered. How could she forget? It was one of the best days of her life. Sure her feelings for Jake started out as just a crush. But who was she kidding? There were more than just luke-warm feelings in that first kiss they shared. It was the first time she had ever experienced feelings like that. And ever since then she had been feeling them. Always when she was around Jake. Even when they were fighting and she nearly hated him, she was still madly in love with him.

"I told you that I would try anything to be with you." Jake continued. Peyton was looking at the ground but he was still looking directly at her. "Do you remember?"

"No," Peyton said to quickly. She and Jake both knew that she remembered. Truth be told, she said that kind of jokingly. She knew that Jake got nervous in front of people, but he still got up and sang for her. And he said he loved her. She knew that she would eventually forgive him and that was just the thing to get her to do it. Now that he was standing in front of her, looking so gorgeous, and the look in his eyes (love, honesty), she didn't even remember why she ran. She was just scared. That he could really love her as much as she loved him. It was all new to her and she didn't really know how to let someone in like that.

"Well, I did. I told you I would try anything to be with you, and that still applies now. I'm not giving up on us, Peyton." He said. And hearing those words, Peyton was sure that this was the time. She didn't want to wait any longer for them to make up.

"What did I answer when you told me that?" Peyton said, smiling, knowing very well what she answered. Jake sighed with relief and smiled. He took a couple steps towards Peyton and put his arms around her waist.

"Something, kind of like this." He said and he bent down to give her an earth-shattering kiss. Peyton leaned back against her car door and kissed him back hard. She snaked her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. All this time broken-up, and spent apart, they needed to make up for it now. But no kiss would be long enough to make up for all that wasted time. Eventually, they needed to break for air.

"Peyton, I love you." Jake said, catching his breath. His heart was still racing a million miles an hour, just like Peyton's was.

"I love you too." Peyton said, smiling ear to ear. They kissed again but only briefly.

_When visions around you,  
Bring tears to your eyes,  
And all that surround you,  
Are secrets and lies  
I'll be your strength,  
I'll give you hope,  
Keeping your faith when it's gone  
The one you should call,  
Is standing here all alone..._

"I could love you forever." Jake whispered. Their lips were still just an inch apart.

"So could I." Peyton said and she reached up to kiss him again.

_And I will take  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

"Peyton, I've done so much bad to this relationship, and I know that," Jake said once they broke apart. "And I really want to make it up to you. I want to reassure you that I'm not going anywhere. I won't screw it up this time."

_I've loved you forever,  
In lifetimes before  
And I promise you never...  
Will you hurt anymore  
I give you my word  
I give you my heart (give you my heart)  
This is a battle we've won  
And with this vow,  
Forever has now begun..._

Jake took something out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Peyton.

_And I will take  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

Peyton looked at the small velvet box in her hands and her heart stopped. This wasn't what she thought it was, was it? She looked up at Jake, who was smiling like crazy.

_Just close your eyes  
Each loving day (each loving day)  
I know this feeling won't go away (no..)  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
Ooh.. I promise you.._

Peyton's hands were shaking as she made herself open the box. She wasn't ready for… Was this really…? What would she do…? She couldn't…She found that she was able to breathe again when inside she saw the most beautiful ring ever. But her heart returned to a normal speed when she noticed that it was not an engagement ring. She sighed in relief. She loved Jake with all her heart, but they were still in High School!

_Over and over I fall (over and over I fall)  
When I hear you call  
Without you in my life baby  
I just wouldn't be living at all..._

"Jake," Peyton whispered, "It's beautiful." She looked up at him with admiration and love. Jake's smile grew wider.

"It's a promise ring." He said, and laughed a little, "I know it sounds lame and it's totally not your thing, but-" He was interrupted by Peyton's lips on his and he totally lost his train of thought as the kiss became more intense.

_And I will take (I will take you in my arms)  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong (right where you belong)  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you baby_

Peyton and Jake really could not get enough of each other. Every second the kiss lasted made them want more. Peyton reached behind her and opened the door to the backseat of her car and once it was opened she fell back into the back seat and Jake fell on top of her, their lips never parting. They were able to do all this because the hood of her car was down, thankfully. They were as happy as ever and their tongues danced to the beat of their love-filled hearts.

_And I will take  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

When they needed to break to catch their breaths, Jake continued what he was saying before.

"As I was saying," He said, taking the ring out of the box and placing it on Peyton's finger, "It's a promise ring. Look, I'm not rich, and I'm not special, and I'm a single father and all, so I don't have much to offer you. Except all the love in my heart. And I promise that you will always have that. I promise you that I will always love you and I will always be yours." Peyton's eyes were watering and a tear trickled down her cheek. "It's a tear of joy, I hope?" Jake said.

Peyton smiled, "Yes, they're tears of joy," she said.

_Just close your eyes  
Each loving day (each loving day)  
I know this feeling won't go away (no..)  
Every word I say is true  
This I promise you_

"Good," Jake said. "So, what'd you say we get out of here?"

"Sure, why not?" Peyton said. "But I get to drive."

"No way, I've seen you drive and I don't plan on dying tonight. I'll drive!" Jake teased.

"Hey! It's my car, I'm driving!"

"No, no no, I am!"

Peyton laughed. How had they gotten so cheesy? They were becoming one of those couples. You know? One of those couples that spend hours on the phone saying: 'You hang up! No, you hang up!' They would say corny things to each other and soon people would be calling them Pake or Jeyton or something. But now that Peyton thought about it... it really wasn't that bad after all.

_Every word I say is true,  
This I promise you  
Ooh, I promise you... _

THE END!

AN: And that's the end! I hoped you liked that ending! That song was 'This I Promise You' by N'Sync. Ah, and old classic, lol. I thought it went well with the whole promise ring thing. I hope you guys didn't think that was stupid. Lol. Please review, I really want to know what you thought! Thank you so much!


End file.
